One Piece: Astrid
by mimetrix
Summary: Conflicted by the government she works for, Astrid finds herself questioning her actions. When she makes her decision she finds herself separated from her friends and recovered by a pirate crew. From there she experiences new found powers and skills as she sails the seas fighting the government she once was a part of.
1. Captured

The Marines; the World Government's form of defence for anyone who are against them. Justice will be served for those who commit an action of crime. All of those who are brought to justice face death or are entitled to a life of imprisonment judging by the severity of their past. As a Marine, it is their job to keep the peace and order. However, in the age of the pirates, many defile the World Government in search of power, treasure, and adventure. With no choice, the World Government had conducted a way of controlling the pirates. The seven warlords of the sea, the Shichibukai, are seven of the strongest pirates who have survived the New World. Although these warlords have no particular respect for the government, they remain the strongest and are feared by both pirates and Marines alike. Most pirates see these members as lackeys of the World Government, while others fear for their lives when confronted with any of these seven members.

Whitebeard was a strong pirate and is well known for his strength among many who sail the seas. He is considered to be just as strong as any of the seven warlords. In the greatest event ever to have been recorded in World Government history, Whitebeard and his pirates, along with a rookie captain and his crew, come in a confrontation with all seven warlords. This brought upon a war between these pirates and those Marine's involved. This gave Whitebeard's pirates a target on their backs after the death of their beloved captain and his right hand man. Many of Whitebeard's pirates did not originally sail with their beloved captain, but were rather split off into separate territories. Once Whitebeard had been defeated, each territory soon fell to the hands of other captains eager to gain strength in numbers.

Astrid was a pirate known to Whitebeard's ship and had been wanted for many years. Never once had she been able to be captured and never once has she submitted to an enemy. Astrid was known for her spunk attitude to fellow pirates, but had a harsh exterior to those who intervened on her goals. To anyone who asked about her past she would simply reply with, "nothing but the past". No one knew who she was when she first was allowed on to the ship, and no one asked why she was allowed to join the crew. With her blonde hair always up and out of the way, she would keep her hair back with a signature bandana. She was a deadly flower and was a fearsome women to deal with.

When Astrid was first allowed on the ship she displayed a great amount of weakness due to the lack of food. Believed to be a threat, Whitebeard had kept her locked up and continued to hold her hostage and starve. He did not kill her, but he did not trust her. Astrid proved herself to be worthy and freed herself claiming to be a new person out to achieve a new beginning. Once she became a crew member, she was loyal to the jolly roger of the crew and its captain. She moved up in the ranks of the crew and become a well-respected scout for the captain.

Known for her great strength and abilities, a bounty was placed on her head. Not a single person was able to take her down. It was until one day that struck many as a shock. Astrid was sailing around the ocean as a rogue pirate from one of Whitebeard's many dingy boats. She navigated the seas until she had finally reached her destination, the Marine Headquarters. As a wanted pirate, many would think she were crazy to have gone to a place which had brought many down before. However, Astrid was there for a purpose, a promise she had made to herself and those dear to her long ago.

Once Astrid had stepped foot onto the island she was confronted by two Marine's right away. In silence, she held her hands up to the sky and fell down to her knees. The confused Marine's gladly took her into custody and brought her further into the depths of the island to confront her final judgement. Right away, word was brought to one of the highest ranking Marines on the island and orders were placed for Astrid to be brought into interrogation. They removed her weapons and made sure that there was no way that she could use her abilities as a form of defence. Her arrival had caused all Marine's on the island to stay on high alert. Nobody understood why she would causally sail herself alone to the headquarters and nobody was brave enough to ask.

Astrid and the two Marines walked into a very large building and entered into a large stone hallway. The hallway was dimly lit by the candles that lined the wall. Their steps echoed upon the stone walkway. As they passed each metal door she could hear the cries of those who reside behind them, each with a cry for freedom. The three continued down the long hallway to reach a small room with a table and a few chairs. The two men in their white uniforms forced their prisoner down onto the chair. As they sat in silence she kept her head down, not making any form of eye contact to the men behind her. Only a few moments had passed until footsteps could be heard down the hallway. The General of this particular tactic division had appeared in the entrance. His long cape draped around the chair as he placed papers in front of him. He cleared his throat and stared straight ahead of him at the women who appeared harmless to anyone at this moment.

"Well, if it isn't the scum of the earth, Astrid of the Whitebeard Pirates. I didn't know that there were any of you left, let alone still holding their alliance to Whitebeard" he said leaning back in his chair.

She simply smiled with a chuckle, keeping her head down at her hands.

"How are you enjoying those seaprism cuffs on your hands there? Seems like it just might be an inconvenience to you right now…isn't it…considering your previous history of a devil fruit?"

She lifted her head to gaze into her captors eyes, "Not at all."

"Ha, I like this one," he bellowed.

"There really isn't much to like General," she said as she placed her hands upon the table.

"Now tell me, how can a young women such as yourself go from a low life, into a powerful scout of the infamous Whitebeard pirates, to become a rogue pirate once the captain was dead, only to be sitting here before me now?"

She looked back down at her hands, leaned back in her chair, and kicked her feet up on the table.

"Let's put it this way General, there is more to me than your little files can tell you. I'm sure if you did your homework, you would understand why I am here before you now and not on that one way trip through those big fancy gates. I'm complicated General."

"I have done quite the work in researching your history. You are very interesting to most high ranking Marine's. Both of your parents were high ranking Marines who have now retired and have hid their faces in shame as to what their daughter has become. You were a notorious pirate of Whitebeard's Crew. A skilled swordsman, and a user of an unknown fighting technique. Not to mention a devil fruit user of the rumble rumble fruit, a logia type user. Now how can your life be any more complicated than that?"

"Oh General, there really is more than meets the eye."

"Then why come all this way on your own to submit? Is this your way of giving up?"

She stood up from the chair, "To prove that no one can stop me from my true fate."

"Restrain her!"

The two shaken Marines grabbed Astrid by the arms to hold her down into the chair. Although the men showed incredible strength they were both taken down in a blink of an eye. Astrid had moved so quickly using her legs that both men were down cold. The General sat there wide eyed not moving an inch. Astrid had moved with a great amount of speed wrapping her cuffed hands around the General's neck. He began gasping for air while flailing to get her away.

"The key General, I am growing rather weary of these cuffs around my wrists."

While gasping for breath, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. Astrid grabbed it with her teeth and removed her hands from his neck. She removed the cuffs and stood there before the General as he gasped for breath.

"What are you waiting for," he gasped, "just do it already. If you are as skilled as you say, kill me."

She laughed as she sat back down in the chair, "No General, I will not kill you. I feel that you at least deserve to know my entire life story. Did you forget already; I was the one who came to you."

Astrid sat back in the chair and resumed to lean back. She grabbed a hold of the paper work that were in front of him. He slammed a knife down close to her hand just missing her fingers. She looked up with her eyes only and stared directly into the menacing eyes of the large man. As she let go of the pages, he removed his knife and sat calmly in the chair. Two other Marine's began to approach the room. They realized that Astrid was no longer cuffed and began to run down the hallway to aid the General. In a quick flash, Astrid used her devil fruit abilities to shock both of the Marine's. Once they were of no concern, Astrid had got up and closed the door.

"I don't want any further disruptions General. Call them all off considering how your two dimwits here must have sounded some sort of alarm I'm assuming."

The General glared right into her eyes and grabbed a transponder snail, "Stand down and remain where you are. Further information will be distributed once more information is given."

Once again she sat before the General. She reached for the files once more expecting the same knife to slam down on the table. However, the General remained very still not removing his eyes on her for a split second. She calmly opened up the folder and gazed upon every piece of evidence that the Marines could have had on her.

"Why?" The General asked, "Why are you doing any of this?"

She looked up at him, "To remember…to forget... to move on."

"I don't understand."

"I need to end this and try again for a newer beginning than the one I tried before."

She looked down at the files once more to the very first page where there was a copy of her birth certificate. The certificate was certified with a World Government stamp, stating that she was the daughter of a high ranking marine. She was born in a small village to General Roster, her father, and Captain Cross, her mother. There was a photo attached to the page with the three of them together.

"Cipher Pohl number 9 General, what can you tell me about them?"

"They…they were a secret tactic team sent on dangerous missions that no other Marine could successfully accomplish. Until they were defeated at Enies Lobby by the Straw Hat Pirates. They are disbanded and now wanted by the Government."

Astrid looked down at a blank page labeled "Age 12-20 Unknown". There were candid photos of her wearing different outfits walking around different villages. The one that stood out the most was the one of her standing with others in the photo.

"I was born in a small village located along the Grand Line. Both of my parents were skilled marines, but neither one of them were able to maintain a higher status beyond what they ranked then. They both wanted to support me and make sure that I were to grow up big and strong like them. So that's when they decided to push me into becoming a Marine."

"Of course, that's what your parent's wanted, it clearly states that in the file."

Astrid stood up quickly and covered the General's mouth, "Now I won't tell you again, but keep quiet. Only talk when I ask, understand?" she said with a snarl.

He nodded as she removed her hand and sat back down in the chair. She closed the file and kicked her feet back up on the table.

"My training started when I was young and I was enlisted into a _gifted children_ program in the Marines. There were only a few of us in this program, eight to be exact. There were many rules we had to follow, like never speak of this program or always aim for the chest. Nobody knew that this program existed and nobody ever was supposed to.

"Supposed to, what do you mean by that?"

"I mean that the program was a secret, even among high ranking Marines such as yourself. Very few knew about us. Now are you going to shut up and let me finish?" she yelled raising her fist as sparks appeared from it.

He nodded.

"This program was special. No other kids were admitted into the program, only eight of us. We were constantly training, getting stronger, and more dangerous. At the age of twelve we were able to kill a man with one finger, well at least one of us was able to prefect it then. Once he was able to properly use all of the moves, he was sent off on special mission and never spoke of them. I feel that's what gave him his harsh exterior. Years went by and we all grew up together."

"So you became a Marine?"

She glared at him, but gave up the foolish attempt on keeping him quiet.

"Not exactly. This program was a secret, therefore I wasn't a Marine. I was an Agent if you will. We started receiving missions when I was fifteen, some of which were life threatening, but most were within our strength range. None of these missions were nothing that we couldn't handle."

"Why tell me any of this information?"

"Like I said General, I need to move on and I see here that you are missing a few pages to the files."

"So, what was this group called, did you have a name for it?"

"Well, sure we did."

"Could you tell me?"

"General," she said as she removed her legs from the table and leaned in closer, "there was a reason as to why I asked you about CP9."

His face went white, "Impossible! You, a pirate were a member? Your files mention none of this!"

"That's because it was a secret ya-moron!"

She pulled out the candid photos of her missions from the folder and tossed them onto the table. The General grabbed each photo and stared at them in disbelief. He couldn't understand how any of what she was saying made any sense. He stood up from the table and placed the photos back into the folder.

"Come with me."

Astrid was puzzled, "Why, what are you planning on doing?"

"If what you say is true, then I need the proof that you were in fact a member. There is only one possible person that could confirm this. Come with me."

The two left the room and walked down the same hallway. The difference this time was that each prisoner was quiet, as if they too understood the current situation that the Headquarters was currently in. They walked out of the main building and continued down a pathway to a small building. It was a dorm of some sort. The General had instructed that Astrid were to remain here until the morning. If she really wanted to share every little detail about her life that was of this extremity, then everything needed to be documented and brought to the World Government's attention. With this new found information, it will determine Astrid's true fate on this island. She turned to see a small ship out in the distance. She smiled at the sight knowing very well who resided on it.

The next morning came and The General returned. In silence they made their way back to the main building. He had brought her into a large room with a desk. The General pulled out a chair from the desk and encouraged her to sit. He sat next to her as two other men walked into the room, one of which had a large stack of books and pens, the other displaying a harsh expression on his face.

"Good to see you father," Astrid said to the man with the harsh expression.

"General Roster confirmed your story, now continue," replied the General.

The man with the books opened up a book with Astrid's name on it. This book was the original file which contained the entire story of all of those pages which she had previously viewed the day in the interrogation room. She stared into the man's eyes as he prepared a pen to write down every single detail that she could share. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to begin her tale.


	2. Cipher Pol Number 9

Astrid had joined Cipher Pol number 9 at a very young age of 7. Her parents were approached by a higher Marine officer about the development of the new generation of Cipher Pol number 9 division, otherwise known as CP9. With the belief that Astrid would grow up to be the child that they had always wanted her to be, they immediately agreed to initiate her into the division. She had no say, and no choice as to what she did. All members of CP9 were taught discipline and to follow direct orders, they were taught to accept their orders and do as they were told in order to accomplish what they needed to get done. They were shown how to use a unique fighting technique that was very hard to master and unknown to most. It was one that was considered very dangerous and required a great amount of strength and mentality. This fighting style was referred to as Rokushiki, or better known as the Six Powers. The children were trained to be weapons, assassins readily available for the World Government to use them when needed. The eight children who were raised as CP9 were beings who were extremely dangerous in the line of duty. The division was a secret, only known to those who were involved. Very few Marines knew of their existence and those who did, were ones who are involved in transporting criminals and members of CP9. Most of their records were eradicated from public use of the Marines which prevented any other Marine officers from finding out who they were. To them, they were just average kids.

Day and night the children would train. They grew stronger and lethal the older they got. Some progressed faster than others, while others still had trouble following orders. They were just children at the time, but weapons. Eventually, they were given missions, some which were dangerous to any fully grown adult. At first, each child had a mission to themselves, to test how much their training paid off. Each child showed a tremendous amount of power and were able to get the job done quickly and easily. As powerful as they were, these children grew up together in seclusion. They were only allowed out on certain occasions. Astrid rarely saw her parents once they had brought her into the division. With the strength of growing up together the kids grew strong as a team. However, when not doing the will of the World Government, these children were just children.

At the age of twelve, Astrid had received her very first mission. She was sent to a small village where she was told to retrieve a small box. She didn't know what was inside, all she knew was that she needed it. When the ship sailed away from the docking bay, she was abandoned. Days went by before she actually knew were the box was or who even had it. As she posed as a helpless child traveling to find her way home, many took her in and took care of her for a night or two. Eventually, she had made her way into a bar.

"He kid, this is no place for a young girl like yourself. Beat it," the bartender would say each time she walked in.

One night, a large rowdy group of pirates were gathered in a bar. They were drunk and merrily enjoying the night. With the large crowd, Astrid had managed to make her way into the building without the bartender noticing. She sat up on a chair and kept to herself as the pirates drank and sang. It didn't take her long to notice a set of keys on one of the pirate's belt. She had a suspicion that this man was the key to unlocking the location of the chest. She ran up to the man with tears in her eyes.

"Please mister, you must help me!"

The bartender had noticed her this time, "Hey kid, get out. This is no place for you. I've told you this before!"

"Oh cut this girl some slack, can't you see she needs help!" the pirate cried, "Alright little girl, go ahead and tell me what is wrong."

"My kitty cat is stuck in a tree and I need someone as brave as you to climb up and get him!" she said tugging at his tunic.

"Alright men, you heard the little lady! Let's go rescue her kitty cat."

The pirate slammed some gold on the counter as all of the pirates walked out of the building. Astrid ran up the hill as all of the pirates were following behind her continuing to shout and cheer. At the top of the hill she had stopped at an old tree. Looking up there was no cat, just leaves. When the pirates showed up they all looked up together.

"Hey, I see no kitty cat!" one pirate yelled.

"Hey yeah, me neither!"

"What's the meaning of this!?"

"Alright little girl, what's going on?" asked the pirate with the key ring.

The pirates began to crowd around her as she stumbled into the tree. They had managed to corner her. She showed nothing but fear on her face, but inside her head she was waiting for the right time. As they got closer, she pulled up her hood to cover her face and began to chuckle.

"Shave," Astrid said as she disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind the group.

"Tempest Kick!" She yelled as a kick strike had managed to strike down a large number of the pirates.

"Finger Pistol," she called out, using her index finger to strike the chest of all of the pirates that were left standing.

With an incredible amount of speed and strength, Astrid was able to take down each pirate as if they were as light as flowers being torn away from their roots. As each man fell, Astrid stood there motionless. It wasn't sweat that that had dropped down on her face but the blood of the fallen men remained. The only person left remaining was the man with the keys. He screamed for help as he tried to get away. With one quick strike, he was down face first onto the ground. Astrid flipped him over and unhooked the key ring from his belt. She made her way back down to the village bar with blood stains on her body. As she walked through the front door the bartender stared at her in fear.

"What…what happened? Are you ok?" He asked dropping the dish he was cleaning to the floor.

"The pirates that were in here, did they mention which way their ship was docked?" She asked.

He nodded and pointed to the side down to the main shore.

"Thank you sir, I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening."

Astrid walked down the pathway removing the blood stained cloak and tossed it into the bushes. When she approached the ship she notice a few men still aboard. In silence, Astrid had jumped high up onto the main deck of the ship. She had landed very closely and quietly next to one of the men on watch. By quickly grabbing his sword and making one slice, the man was on the ground motionless. She quickly rummaged the ship and made sure that she wasn't seen by the two men who were in the barracks of the ship.

Eventually she came across a locked room. She went through the many keys on the ring and managed to get inside. The room appeared to be some sort of treasury room with all kinds of chest and pieces of gold lying around. However, it wasn't the gold that she was interested in, but what resided in one of the chests. She noticed a small chest on a table heavily chained. Assuming that this was the chest she was sent to grab, she quickly snatched it and made a run for it. As she was about to jump off the deck to run up to the village, one of the men had spotted her. She failed to realize that she was noticed and had managed to be shot in the side. The pain was nothing like she had ever felt before as she lost her footing. She fell to the ground and lost her grip on the chest. The men were shouting and shooting at her as she gathered up what strength she had. She got up, picked up the chest, and ran as fast as she could back to the village. She couldn't believe that she had managed to let her guard down. She feared that the others of CP9 will deem her as weak and incompetent now.

The next morning after tending to her wounds the night before, the lovely lady that had taken her in prepared a nice hearty breakfast for her. As Astrid sat down to eat, a sound could be heard from her bag that had the chest hidden in it. In the bag was a transponder snail, a device she used to communicate to those at Marine Headquarters. When she answered, all she said was "Done" and hung up. A few hours later, marine ships had docked to the shore. They ran through the village and smashed down the door of the house that the lovely lady owned. Two Marines grabbed a hold of Astrid's wrists, making it seem like she was a wanted fugitive. They grabbed the sack and were heading back to their base.

Once back at the base, a medical officer examined her wounds. Out of embarrassment, she kept herself away from all other members. She never believed that she would be as strong as the others would be and feared that she would be out casted. Once her bandages were removed, a large bullet scar remained. A scar that will forever remind her that carelessness will not be an option for her. On her own, she began to train harder and get stronger than she ever was before. It was the inspiration which had paid off as she grew older.

Years went by and the kids were now even more stubborn than ever. They had reached their teenage years. On a sunny afternoon, the eight CP9 members were out in the courtyard enjoying their time together. Kaku, a long nosed tall thin boy sat on a box next to Astrid. They sat together laughing and talking like any average person would. Rob Lucci, the boy with curlier black hair tied back and the harshest exterior, actually managed to enjoy a game of soccer with Jabra, a boy with thin facial hair. The beautiful blonde haired Kalifa enjoyed reading her book in the sun on the lawn chair trying to avoid the soccer ball each time it was kicked towards her. Fukuro, a large and oddly rounded green haired boy, sat along the wall playing chess with a boy who had long lushes pink hair named Kumadori. The last member Blueno, a boy with black hair in the shape of horns, sat by himself with a sandwich. Everyone was enjoying their day off from training, missions, and overall World Government interference.

"Astrid, are you sure you really want to go through with that?" asked Kaku.

"Of course I do, it's something different, right?" she replied tying her long blonde hair back.

"Just be careful this time."

"Well, you're coming with me and you have no say!" she said grabbing a hold of his arm.

"WAIT, I DIDN'T AGREE TO THIS!" He yelled as he was stumbling around from being pulled.

Astrid had dragged Kaku right into the middle of Lucci and Jabra's soccer game. Knowing that Lucci would be furious if they were to interfere during their match, Astrid went ahead and threw Kaku into the pathway of the ball. Still unable to catch himself, he fell face first onto the ground as the ball came barrelling down the yard into his face. Astrid couldn't help but to laugh as Lucci glared at her. Jabra had a good laugh and blew it off, however, Lucci was sick and tired of Astrid.

"You bothersome child!" he yelled.

"Who are you calling a child!? I am only four years younger than you!" she yelled back.

"Guys would you keep it down, I'm trying to read." Kalifa yelled back at them.

"If you want us to be quiet so badly then come over and make us be quiet," replied Jabra.

"That's sexual harassment," she said pushing her glasses up.

"Is nobody going to care that I was just smacked in the face by a ball?" Kaku asked as he was dusting himself.

As much as they annoyed each other, they still cared for each other. A few days had gone since the soccer game. Astrid sat by herself in her dorm room in complete silence. She sat at her desk drawing some scenic pictures. Pictures that she would see in her dreams. Some of the places were beautiful, others were full of fire. She had often wondered if these places from her dreams meant anything.

Surely, she thought that there would be some sort of deeper meaning as to why there was fire. The dreams were always the same and eventually all tied in together. She would be on a ship, sailing across one of the seas. She came across a lush green island that was isolated from the world. On that island there were sounds of all kinds of birds present. All was calm until a loud bang could be heard. Fire would begin to grow everywhere, and in that fire a phoenix would rise from the flames as the sky grows dark of the smoke. Lightning would strike the trees. Just before they would strike her she would wake up. There was no explanation, no reason as to why she would be having these dreams.

A light knock was at the door and Kalifa entered.

"Is everything ok?" Astrid asked.

"Fine, just worried."

"Why, everything is fine right?"

"I'm worried about, about why we are here. What does the government want?"

"Whoa, where is this coming from?"

"Do you remember long ago, when Lucci was sent out on his very first mission?"

"Of course, that was the day he came back as a different person."

"On that day he was injured. The scars on his back are now the very same mark of CP9."

"Well, he is the one that keeps us going. He is scary after all."

"But he always wasn't remember?"

"Look Kalifa, I think you are thinking too much into this. We are well trained assassins and the Government keeps us around because they know we can handle the jobs that no ordinary Marine could. We are the dark little secret of the World Government. The World Government believes in justice right? So relax, we aren't changing, we all will be fine. Look tomorrow is a new day and probably a new mission. Get some sleep and relax. Lucci, is just a hard bone to crack. Everyone changes eventually. He'll be fine."

She looked up at Astrid. In silence she stood up and walked out of the room. Confused, Astrid returned to her drawings.

The next day all eight members were summoned to their leader's office. Spandam, son of Spandine the original CP9 leader, was relaxing with his legs op on his desk and a cup of tea in his hands. His bronze brace, which covered most of his face, shone in what little light peered through the closed curtains.

"Now, you are probably wondering why you are all here," he said placing his tea on the desk. "Well let me tell you, I have come across the greatest creation known to man."

Spandam had grabbed a large chest from underneath his chair. He used one of his special keys to open it and inside were three colorful fruits.

"If some of you recall, these are the very items I have sent for you to capture long ago. Well here they are, the devil fruits that strike fear in any man!" he said with a cackle. "Now I need three of you who I believe is worthy enough to control their ultimate power."

"Devil fruits! Are you a mad man!?" Yelled Kaku, "Don't you know what they can do to a person if one were to eat it? You never know what kind of ability you may get and you lose all hope of ever being able to swim!"

"Well, I know who isn't getting one then," replied Spandam.

Lucci calmly approached the desk and stared down at the fruits.

"Hey, if he gets one then I get one!" yelled Jabra as he pushed passed Kaku and Fukuro.

"Very well, you each are worthy enough to get one I suppose. Are there any other takers?"

Fukuro, Kaku, Kalifa, Blueno, Astrid, and Kumadori all looked at each other. Kalifa and Astrid both backed away as Kaku turned his back. Blueno, Fukuro, and Kumadori all were left standing to be chosen.

"Well if none of you can decide amongst yourselves, then I will have to pick for you don't I. Blueno, come here." Spandam ordered.

Blueno approached the desk next to Jabra. Each of them picked out a devil fruit that was in front of them. They were each given a plate and a fork and instructed to sit at the couch. The three boys sat down on the couch preparing themselves for the worst to come. The others cautiously stood in front of them, getting ready to see what sort of men that this boys will become. They each took a bite into their fruit and began to eat it entirely.

"This is the nastiest thing that I have ever eaten!" yelled Jabra, nearly scaring Kaku and Kalifa.

Lucci had grabbed a hold of the armrest and squeezed onto it tightly scaring Astrid who was leaning on it. "You were right about the taste. Why didn't you warn us that they would be like this?" he asked.

"Well how was I supposed to know, I've never eaten a devil fruit before." Spandam replied.

The three boys completed eating their fruits and were now devil fruit users. This began the new age of the assassins and made CP9 even stronger than before. If Spandam was able to make all members of CP9 devil fruit users, there was no way of telling what sort of tactics the World Government would assign them. Their strength combined was already a tremendous amount of power, enough to over throw anything that was in their path. With devil fruit powers on top, it made them almost impossible to defeat. It was believed that there would be nobody alive who would take down CP9 and the World Government.


	3. The Beginning of the End

The Beginning of the End

After Jabra, Blueno, and Lucci had consumed the three devil fruits, the changes began to take place the moment that they had eaten them. None of them understood what sort of powers that each fruit held until they were released in the physical form of the three young men. Blueno now had the ability to create any sort of doorway leading anywhere out of thin air from the Door-Door fruit. This was referred to as a paramecia devil fruit. Jabra now had the power of a wolf, enabling himself to tur into a wolf hybrid or the full beast. He was given this power through the Mutt-Mutt fruit of the wolf model, a zoan type. This was the same type of fruit that Lucci had eaten, however this fruit was called the Cat-Cat fruit of the leopard model. This devil fruit gave Lucci all of the hidden powers that resided within a leopard. All three young men were now even stronger than they were before. The fear of the devil fruit users initiated a hidden fear among the other CP9 members. None of them knew what sort of strength these young men were capable of on top of their already incredible strength and speed.

A few years after the devil fruits were eaten, Astrid and Kaku were in the courtyard. The two of them sat at their usual spot on the boxes near the south wall. They watched as Kalifa and Kumadori were sparring with each other.

"Astrid, do you think one of us will have to eat a devil fruit?"

"I hope not, I don't want to rely on that kind of power to protect myself."

"If you had to…would you?"

"It depends."

"I wonder who will be next to fall victim to the devil's powers."

"I'd miss being able to swim way too much to be able to hold onto that power."

"Are you ready?" Kalifa asked.

Kaku and Astrid stood up from the boxes and walked past Kumadori and Kalifa. The two walked towards a cabinet. Inside the cabinet was an assortment of swords used by common guards. What would seem like powerful weapons were really common training swords at the hands of CP9 assassins. Kumadori and Kalifa stood by the boxes wiping off the sweat from their faces. Kaku and Astrid stood in silence once they had selected their swords. Lucci and Jabra joined them in the court with Fukuro and Blueno not far behind.

"I see their trying out weapons again," Lucci said walking up next to Kalifa.

"They usually put on a good show," she responded.

"I see that you only picked one sword, interesting," Kaku said swinging his two swords in between his fingers, "You will never match up to my four sword style that I've been working on."

"Kaku, I think you need to go back to math class. Schmuck can't even count, what a loser," Jabra called out.

"I wouldn't underestimate his skills. Kaku has something up his sleeve," replied Lucci.

"Does the wager still stand?" Kaku asked.

"Of course! How could I say no to free food when you're paying for it," Astrid replied.

"In your dreams, I'm the one who will be eating the free food," he yelled charging at her.

He swung his two swords meeting Astrid's as she blocked the attack. With a swift kick to his side, he swung his sword for a counter attack. For at least an hour, the two swordsmen were attacking each other using their legs as a sword along with their blades. Neither one of them were giving in to the other. Both had great determination to defeat the other for the price of free food.

In a quick aerial attack, Kaku used a tempest kick strike so forceful that it left Astrid's blade in half. Now that she had no sword to fight with, she was left with her hand to hand combat. While trying to avoid the swing of his swords she landed a few punches here and there. He kicked her in the stomach sending her across the court into the stone wall. She got up from the empty wine barrels she had crushed and charged at him. The main gate swung open as Kaku and Astrid collided. They both managed to deflect their attacks into a long range force of wind that was directed towards the gate. As the strike had hit the gate, the unfortunate person who had opened also received the forceful blow. The gate was left broken and their leader Spandam was left on the ground yelling in agonizing pain.

"Well, I suppose that's the end of the game," Kaku said.

"Better luck next time," she replied with a wink.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU IMBECILES THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Spandam yelled as he jumped back up onto his feet, "DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?"

All of the members glared at him in silence.

"So scary," he said, "Anyways, enough with the standing around, you have work to do!"

"We weren't informed of any business to attend to today," Kaku replied.

"He is just saying that because he doesn't want to get hit by you two again, chapapa," said Fukuro.

"Ah, zip it, Fukuro," Jabra said zipping up Fukuro's zippered mouth, "Let the guy speak for once without getting blown to bits again."

"I have a very important mission for you all. But this time will be different. I need you all to go undercover," Spandam said.

"How is that any different from any other mission?" asked Blueno.

"I'm glad you asked, because these missions require to work in teams rather than as individuals. The World Government wants to see how you all will manage working together to get the job done. Of course the job will get done because with myself as your powerful leader, we will succeed every time."

"Powerful, ha, coming from someone whose strength level is lower than that of a regular guard," Jabra said with a laugh.

"You watch your tongue or I will send you off! Anyways, you will each find a file regarding your mission and who you will be working with. Don't fail me."

That evening, each CP9 member went into their rooms to find the files laying on top of their beds. Each file contained each mission for each member. In big letters across the file read, "Do not share this with any other member and follow each direction thoroughly". That night while going to bed Astrid read the file which would be her next life for however long it would take her to complete it. She curled up in her bed and read the following:

 _You have been chosen for this covert mission to obtain information regarding a very important matter to the World Government. You will not speak of this mission to any other person including the other members of Cipher Pol number 9. Doing so will result in immediate execution. The World Government will not tolerate disobeying orders and potential harm in any mission. You and your partner are receiving direct order to obtain this information to proceed in further developments of the World Government's belief of justice and peace. You will not know who you partner is until the time comes to proceed in the mission. Good luck and safe travels._

 _Assassin: Astrid Cross_

 _Assisted skills required for mission: Swordsmen, disguise, deceitfulness, speed, observation._

 _Skills necessary for undercover co-op: Guitar, vocal talents, potential showmanship._

"Wait this can't be right!" she yelled, "I need to know how to perform for this mission. I can't sing. I can't play a guitar or anything, let alone preform anything on a stage! Who do they think I am Victoria Cindry?"

 _The World Government understands that to go into this mission essential training is needed to perform the necessary duties. Training will begin tomorrow morning with your instructor in town. You are receiving special permission along with other possible CP9 agents to go through with this extra training to proceed in the mission. Please dress accordingly as to not to create a stir among those in the village. You will learn quickly._

"Great ok, so I have to go into town to get singing lessons? What kind of mission is this, just get on with it already!"

 _You and your partner will be sent to a kingdom. Through World Government information, it is understanding that a wanted person resides on the island. This person is very dangerous and may be harmful to the justice that the World Government represents. Your job is to go to this island and observe her only. She is a threat to the World Government, but still necessary in the advancements that the World Government wishes to protect._

 _Your target is Nico Robin, bounty of_ _79, 000, 000 and believed to have initiated an attack on the island of Ohara as a child. She has come into contact with the initial CP9 members ran by Spandine and is deemed as a notorious deviant. Observe with great caution on her movements. It is believed that she resides in the kingdom of Alabasta. You will be sent to the Rain Dinners Casino as a performing duo with your partner. Approach with caution and obtain as much information as you can. Once you have confirmed Nico Robin's whereabouts, you will report immediately. Step two will be initiated and the next assignment will be found. If not found after a month upon arriving in Alabasta, World Government officials will find you and reassign you to a new location. Your lessons begin at 08:00 tomorrow morning._

At the bottom of the page was the seal of the World Government. She closed the file and got out of her bed to the kitchen. In the kitchen were all other CP9 members.

"You read slowly," Jabra said as Astrid grabbed herself a glass of water.

"I want to make sure that I knew exactly what to do," she replied taking a sip.

All of them sat in silence staring at each other. None of them knew who they would be working with, but they all knew that they each couldn't share the information that they have been told. Tension was in the room which gave a very unsettling feeling. None of them spoke the entire time they were in the kitchen.

The next morning, Astrid had woken up to the yelling of her transponder snail, her wake-up call that morning seemed unsettling. The mission she was now on seemed bigger than what it really was. She couldn't figure out exactly what made this mission so important, but something about it made it seem nerve wracking. She made her way through the gate and started walking down the pathway to the village. No other CP9 members were around as she walked through the small forest that concealed the area.

Once in the village she did not make any eye contact with any other person that was around. She quietly made her way to the place she was meant to go. On a piece of paper in her hands was the address.

"Here I am," she said to herself upon her arrival, "this is where it all begins."

She walked inside to see a man standing at a counter with a large smile on his face. All around on the walls were an assortment of musical instruments and books on shelves.

"I see that you've come for some lessons!" the man said with joy. "Come, come right in to the back and I will show you everything you want to know about any instrument! Please say that you want a lesson, nobody comes in for lessons anymore."

"Teach me what you know about the guitar and singing. I will pay you for your hospitality," she said throwing him a small sack of coins that was given to her by the World Government.

He gladly accepted the payment and showed her the way to the back.

"Now through a series of a few months, I will have you mastering the guitar and have you singing like an angel!" he proclaimed.

"I don't have a few months for that. I need to know how to master it immediately."

"Well I don't know if I…"

"You have two days, today and tomorrow. I'm a fast learner."

He stared at her in disbelief and handed her a guitar. He grabbed a guitar of his own and began to teach her how to play. After the first couple of hours, the man knew that she was serious about wanting to master the two skills in a matter of two days. He went to the front of his shop and locked the door and closed the blinds. Astrid practiced until her fingers bled and her throat was dry that night. The next day upon her return, the two sat once again until nightfall.

"Incredible! Never have I ever seen someone with as much will power and talent that you have," he said.

"I'm not normal. You could say that it was the way I was raised," she responded, "Thank you sir for sharing you knowledge, but I am afraid that our time together ends here."

"You know, you're just like the other fella that comes by here."

Astrid quickly snapped a shocked look at him.

"He comes here just before you do. My lovely wife has graciously offered to give him lessons for about the same amount of time. Funny, it's almost as if you two should be working together with your determination."

"It is funny isn't it? Perhaps this fellow and I will meet one day and we will share our stories of the two musicians who sat day and night to teach us. Thank you once again sir."

She walked out of the building and into the rain. Along the way she couldn't help but to think of the possible partners. She knew right away that once the man defined the person as male that it could not be Kalifa. Which means that Kalifa had a different mission of her own. As she continued up the path, she came across Jabra and Kalifa walking towards the shore to board a ship. While walking through the gate she barely missed hitting Lucci.

"Coming home a little late aren't you?" he proclaimed.

"Going somewhere?" she responded with annoyance.

They walked past each other as she made her way into the building. She walked down the hallway and walked by an open door. Inside was Kaku sitting in his bed with a hat over his face. On the floor were wet shoes, which suggested that he had just gotten back from somewhere. As she was about to walk away, she heard his voice.

"Did somebody leave?"

"Kalifa and Jabra are gone now. I saw them boarding a ship. I have a feeling that Lucci is next with whoever is partnered with him. Why were you out so late?"

"I could ask you the same," he said removing his hat slightly to show his eye.

She walked away not wanting to go further in the conversation with him. Once she was in her room, there was a piece of paper on her bed which read "12'oclock departure". Her heart skipped a beat. She quickly crumpled the piece of paper up and threw it to the ground and walked out of her room. She quickly passed by Kaku's room.

"Hey, where are you going?" he called out.

"I need to do some research."

Since she had read her mission file, there had been something on her mind. She couldn't make out what it was and now was the time to figure it out before she left. She entered a room that was filled with all kinds of World Government files and located the one on Ohara. She sat down at the desk and opened it up. In this file was everything that Ohara was up until the day that it was taken down. She learned about the island and the history that it had on preserving the records of the lands. The day that Ohara was destroyed was because of the troubles and theories of revolution. There was one little girl who had survived. That little girl was Nico Robin. No other information was given on her or Ohara from that point.

"Why go through all of this, what does she have that the World Government wants? Why did this happen to a little girl? What makes her so wanted by the World Government and how the heck has she been able to avoid them for almost twenty years? Something about all of this does not feel right."

The next morning, Astrid woke up to the sound of talking outside of her window. She slowly peered out to see Fukuro talking to Kumadori. She couldn't make out what they were saying. They weren't standing there for too long before a Marine approached them. She knew immediately that they were partnered together which narrowed down her options even further.

When she walked into the kitchen, nobody else was around. She continued to make her way through the building into the courtyard and still could not find anyone else. The entire building was quiet. She sat in her room in silence waiting for 12'oclock to strike still unsure as to if she really wanted to go through with this mission or not. In her head she kept thinking that it was just an observation mission with no tactics, nothing could go wrong, but on the other side she was feeling uneasy about who it was she needed to observe. Something about the situation seemed uneasy. She continued to sit until the transponder snail went off. On the other end was a Marine asking where she was. She realized that it was already past the departure time. She took in a deep breath and grabbed her bag. Quickly, she made her way to a galleon ship that was docked. As she made her way up to the deck she could hear a voice from above her.

"You're a little late," they called out.

She looked up and saw a black figure jump from the mast. They landed right in front of her and folded his arms across his chest.

"I had a suspicion that I would be your partner in this," Kaku said with a smile.

Knowing that Kaku was her partner made her feel a little more relaxed about the mission. A Marine had approached both of them and escorted them into a shared room.

"My apologies, the ship only had one room accommodated to the both of you. I hope you can understand the given situation."

"We will be fine, thank you," replied Kaku without thinking it through.

They settled into their room and began to familiarize themselves with their living space as the ship set sail. Kaku opened up one of the cupboards in their room to find two guitars and a piece of paper. He called Astrid over as the two of them began to read the piece of paper.

 _New information:_

 _The owner of Rain Dinners Casino is one of the Seven Warlords known as Crocodile. Do not, by any means, interfere with him as a member of the World Government. You are to appear to him as performers only. If caught in a combat situation it is important to know that he is a user of the Sand-Sand fruit, enabling him to control sand. It is also important to know that if confronting Nico Robin at any time, to be extra cautious of your surroundings, importantly yourselves. It has been reported that Nico Robin is also a devil fruit user. She has the abilities of the Flower-Flower fruit giving her the ability to flower limbs onto any surface. You are also not to come into contact with the Royal Family of Alabasta._

The two looked at each other with concern. They were about to walk into a place owned by a one of the Seven Warlords who has a devil fruit power, while trying to locate a notorious outlaw who also has devil fruit powers. Neither one of them knew what these people were capable of.

"We just have to observe, nothing to it," Kaku said.

He walked away leaving Astrid alone in the room. She still couldn't help but to feel troubled. She grabbed one of the guitars in the cupboard and began to fiddle around with it in order to calm her nerves. Little did she realize that, the mission was the beginning of the very end for her.


	4. Waling into the Devil's Lair

It was a beautiful warm sunny day. All of the Marine's on the ship were enjoying the calm movements of the water. Kaku had managed to make his way up the mast and fall asleep comfortably with his hat over his face. Astrid, sat along the edge of the ship swinging her feet down. It was at least a week since they had left their base to pursue their mission. She often would think about the other members and what they could be doing at the time. While sitting on the ledge she could see a ship in the distance. As the ship got closer, she could see a group of men walking around on the deck of the ship.

"I see they have arrived," said a Marine.

Astrid continued to sit on the ledge as the two ships met. Three men from the ship docked with bags and began to talk to some Marines. From up on the mast, Kaku woke up, removing his hat from his face. He peered down below and watched as the new men walked around on the deck of the ship. Astrid looked up at him to see if anything could be shared. He responded with a confused shrug and calmly jumped down from the mast. He walked over to Astrid as the two watched the new men walking around on the deck. One of them approached them with a huge smile on his face.

"You must be the new stars!" he said shaking their hands.

"Who are you?" asked Astrid

"You're funny. I'm Vic, the newest instrumentalist to your performing duo! We were approached and given this opportunity to perform with the greatest rising stars."

Astrid and Kaku looked at each other.

"Would you excuse us," Kaku said while grabbing Astrid's shoulder.

The two walked over inside the main kitchen where the captain overseeing their ship was sitting.

"Explain." Kaku demanded.

"You're talking about the new members aren't you? Spandam felt that you weren't good enough to go out on your own so he hired on these jokes to be your back up in this mission," she responded flicking back her pale pink hair from her shoulder.

"We've never needed any backup in any of our missions," Astrid stated.

"I don't know what kind of missions you go on, but I know for certain that this is not an average one now is it?" she said standing up, "Now both of you are going to turn around, march out there, and meet your new members to your band!"

"Wait…" Kaku stammered.

"I SAID MARCH!" she yelled.

The two of them turned around and walked out of the kitchen to peer over the ledge down to the deck where the new members were sitting. They were all enjoying the sunny day with some Marines just as Astrid and Kaku were earlier before their arrival.

That evening, the ship had docked in Alabasta. Kaku and Astrid were in their room sitting in their beds. The tension of the mission had increased once the newest members had arrived as the two of them sat in silence. I quiet tap at the door was their sign that it was time for them to leave. With their bags already packed, they left the room and walked out onto the deck to meet with the new members. A Marine approached them and informed them that they were on their own from this point on. Looking up ahead, they could see the lights coming from the Rain Dinners Casino. As the backup instrumentalists got excited, Astrid and Kaku still stood with a stern expression. Unlike the instrumentalists, the two CP9 members were on a mission. With their bags, all five of them made their way to the shore. Once on the shore, the ship raised their anchor and set their sails.

"Hey wait, they're just going to leave us here?" Vic cried.

"We're going to stay for a while. Now let's make our way to the casino and meet with Crocodile. He should be expecting us by now," Kaku responded solemnly.

"WAIT, you don't mean one of the Seven Warlords do you? The Crocodile?!" Vic said shaking.

"Yes, he is our new boss, and we will be working for him as his performers. The ship is still close enough if you can't handle it," proclaimed Astrid as she started the walk.

Vic looked out at the ship which had pulled away from the dock and shook his head no. The five of them walked up the road and into the town. A few people were walking around and a couple stared at the newcomers. They followed the lights up to the fanciest building in the town, Rain Dinners Casino. Inside, the loud sounds of slot machines and the bustling of people filled the room.

"How are we supposed to find Crocodile in this place, its huge!?" Astrid cried out in amazement.

"Easy. Follow me," replied Kaku.

He walked with determination through the crowds with the others not far behind. In the center of the building there was a clearing. Kaku stood there with a puzzled look on his face. He removed his hat and began to scratch his head while looking around.

"You have no clue where to go," Astrid said putting her guitar on the ground.

A charming voice appeared from behind them. A woman with a white fur coat stood before them with her arms folded across her chest.

"You must me the new performers I've heard so much about," she said. "You're looking for Crocodile, aren't you? Come with me and I will take you to him."

"And who are you, you fine lovely lady?" Vic asked.

"I am his partner," she responded.

She turned around and started walking as the others followed. Her white fur coat waved every time she took a step as her black hair danced at her shoulders. The mysterious woman led them into an office room where a large man sat in a chair. Smoke filled the air while Astrid and Kaku cautiously followed the woman further into the room. The notorious Crocodile sat in the chair, his golden hook on the desk and a glass of sake in his hand. He put his drink down and stood up from his chair.

"Sir, you have company. These are the new performers," the mysterious woman said gesturing to them.

"So, you are the ones. You better be as good as they say," he replied. "I am Crocodile, your boss for the amount of time that you will be staying here. Do you know how to dance?"

"We will in order to make the show better, if that's what you want sir," Kaku replied.

"You should probably dress more appropriately, don't you think sir?" the woman addressed the groups attire and questioned.

"Sure, whatever; just get them out of my sight. Miss All-Sunday will escort you to your suite," proclaimed sitting back down in his chair.

Miss All-Sunday led them back out of the room and shut the large doors behind them. She led them down the hallway to a stairwell. Up the stairwell was a hallway with a series of doors; each leading to a large suite. The instrumentalists were eager to get into their own rooms while Kaku and Astrid made it clear that they were to share a suite. When told, Miss All-Sunday gave a small smirk.

"Don't get too rowdy, Crocodile wouldn't appreciate it."

"Oh, we're not…"Kaku said while being interrupted by a closing door.

Behind the door you could hear her call out, "I'll be by in the morning with a new wardrobe."

Kaku turned around, his face as red as a tomato. With a smile Astrid approached him and touched his shoulder as she walked past him. She picked up her bag and threw it on top of the only bed that was in the room. The two of them shared an awkward eye contact with each other, realizing what it meant. After a long shower, Astrid got dressed for the night and made her way over to the bedroom portion of the suit. In the bed was Kaku reading a pamphlet on the casino. She stopped at the side of the bed and snatched the pamphlet out of his hands.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm getting ready for bed," he replied.

"Oi Kaku, you know very well what this means," she said pulling the blankets off of him.

"Is this necessary?"

"It's only polite to let the lady sleep in the bed."

"I'm not sleeping on the couch my feet will hang over the edge! Besides, we both need the best rest we can get in order to properly observe this mission."

"Admit it, you just wanted to share the bed with me," she replied jumping over him to the other side.

His face once again went bright red as she made herself comfortable. She laughed at Kaku and reached into her bag to pull out the page on Nico Robin.

"Miss All-Sunday looked familiar," Astrid stated.

"A little too familiar," Kaku replied, "We can't get too far ahead of ourselves, and you know the rules. Let's make sure that it is her and then we will report. Let's just wait for a few more days and make the final report."

That night Astrid had the nightmare filled with fire and lightning. The same phoenix appeared to rise out of the flames, however there was something different this time. In the middle of the flames was a figure. The figure was shorter in stature, fairly thin, but something about it was intimidating. This mysterious shadow was something that Astrid didn't want to mess with. As the figure got closer, she felt pain in her chest. The flames grew and consumed her as the lightning disappeared. She felt trapped, unable to escape the flames. The figure disappeared but the flames grew stronger. She woke up from the dream from a force shaking her body.

"Astrid, wake up!" Kaku yelled.

She shot straight up catching her breath.

"Are you ok, you've been yelling and saying no in your sleep," he said with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine just a normal nightmare."

"Normal, that didn't sound normal to me."

"It's normal, I've had these dreams before. This one was just different," she replied as Kaku got out of the bed.

He went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, "Get some rest. I'll even sleep on the couch if you want."

Astrid shook her head and drank the glass as Kaku got back into the bed. Once they were asleep again, it wasn't long before they heard a loud knock on the door. Kaku answered, and on the other side was Miss All-Sunday with a large rack of clothes. She proclaimed that it was time to get dressed and to show Crocodile what they were capable of.

Once dressed, they made their way down to a large empty room with a stage where their backups were rehearsing.

"Hey, you're up!" Vic shouted. He jumped down from the stage and handed them each a couple of pages. "Songs for the show. Learn and love them!"

They looked at the pages and read the music. Knowing that they had to memorize each page for their performance tonight, they immediately jumped on the stage and stood in their appropriate positions. Miss All-Sunday sat in one of the chairs and crossed her arms one on top of the other. She said something, but it wasn't audible to the others on stage. The housing lights dimmed and colored lights brightened the stage. With a nod to each other, they began rehearsing. Astrid had noticed up in the podium that nobody was present. With nobody in the podium there was no way that the lights could have dimmed on their own. After they rehearsed their last song, Miss All-Sunday stood up from her chair and clapped. Without a word, she left the room. Astrid had pointed out her suspicion of the podium to Kaku. She wanted to check things out.

The two of them made their way up into the room. The only entrance was within the theater. There was no way anybody could have entered or left the room without them noticing. Kaku remembered the Flower-Flower fruits capabilities that Nico Robin supposedly has. His theory was that Miss All-Sunday must have used this ability to dim the lights. This furthered the possibilities that she was in fact Nico Robin. As soon as they made their deduction an unnoticed trap door was opened on the floor and a man appeared. He was upset by their presence and ordered them out. With the new knowledge of the trap door, there was still no hard proof that Miss All-Sunday was in fact Nico Robin.

That evening before the show, the man from the podium was helping them work out the last kinks of the performance for lights and sounds. Crocodile showed up with Miss All-Sunday unannounced and sat in the very back of the room. The dim light of his cigar was the only thing that could be seen from the stage. It wasn't soon after Crocodile's arrival that more and more people began to fill the theater. As more people came in, Astrid got more nervous.

"You aren't getting stage fright on me are you?" Kaku asked while peering out from the alcove of the stage.

"A little bit. So far out of all the things I have worked on, this one is the most nerve racking," she replied adjusting the short skirt of her dress.

"If you can manage to kick Lucci in the face like you did when we were kids, then you can do anything," Kaku replied with a grin as he adjusted the red tie that matched her dress.

She smiled as the announcements began. The crowd began to cheer which was their queue to run up on the stage. While looking out across the theater, seeing how many people were present made Astrid weak in the knees. Kaku looked over and put his hand on his shoulder. She looked up at him as he handed her, her guitar. He took in a deep breath which enabled her to do the same. The simple deep breath made her feel better as she looked across once again. With the guitar in their hands they began to perform in their strangest mission yet.


	5. Nico Robin

After the first performance, Kaku and Astrid were able to relax from the stage and do what they know best. In the main hall of the casino, the two assassins made sure that their backup members were nowhere to be seen. With them around, it would be almost impossible for them to actually complete their mission. The two decided to split up and cover more ground. At this rate, any evidence suggesting that Miss All-Sunday was Nico Robin was essential to their mission. The faster that they would be able to uncover and confirm the truth, the faster they could get out of there and away from one of the Seven Warlords. Their biggest risk of the mission was Crocodile. If he were to ever discover their true identity, it would compromise them. His anger and power would risk their lives and the exposure of CP9.

Astrid had wandered into the hallway where Crocodile's main office was. She calmly approached the door and stopped just before it to lean on the wall. Before Kaku and Astrid had separated, Kaku had warned her of one thing to not do.

"Whatever you do, do not talk to Crocodile. If you do, just come up with something and leave immediately".

Never before had she ever listened to Kaku but with the severity of this mission, it was the one time she would. She walked away from the door and made her way back into the main hall. She continued to walk through the building, but there was no sign of Miss All-Sunday or any clue that she could pick out. A few hours later, Astrid was alone in their room looking out of the window across the desert city. The trees were withering in the distant, as if they hadn't seen rain for a few days. A knock on the door brought Astrid's attention away from the slowly dying vegetation. On the other side was Miss All-Sunday.

"Crocodile wishes to speak with you about the performance," she said. "He was rather disappointment about it. Shame, I thought it was lovely."

Astrid was brought into Crocodile's office. Inside Kaku was already sitting in one of the chairs in front of Crocodile's desk. The look on Crocodile's face was the very same a parent would give their child to let them know something they did was wrong. Astrid only responded with a puzzled look and sat down. The smoke from Crocodile's cigar filled the air as Miss All-Sunday leaned up against the wall behind him.

"Do you understand why you are here?" he asked.

The two looked at each other hoping that the other would have an answer.

"You are here because your performance wasn't up to my standards."

"You're joking. Did you not hear the audience?" Kaku proclaimed.

Astrid put her hand on his arm to help calm him down and quieten him. She looked back up to Crocodile and nodded to let him proceed.

"What he is saying, is that you lack showmanship. Although I thought the performance was well done, Crocodile is correct. There was something missing," Miss All-Sunday replied.

"You are too strict, as if you were obedient little dogs of the Marines," Crocodile responded.

Astrid took in a deep breath, nervous that their identity was discovered. She looked him dead in the eye and responded, "And how do you expect us to change that Sir?"

Miss All-Sunday stepped away from the window and said, "The first costume ideas I had presented to you the other day were adequate, expecting that you already understood the concept of how to perform without the strict persona. A new costume change will be in order and a new routine will be established. I don't know what you will come up with, but more movement and stage personality is required if you want to stay here."

"This is Rain Dinners Casino and I expect that you will perform in a way appropriate for this establishment, do I make myself clear?" Crocodile proclaimed while standing from his desk.

"Yes Sir," Kaku and Astrid replied in unison.

"Then get out of my office and get to work,"

Kaku and Astrid walked out and made their way up to their room. In silence, they stopped by the backup member's bedrooms to let them know about the current situation. They were upset by the news, but understood that necessary changes they would have to make in order to remain. They made plans to come up with something better early the next morning to add a kick to their routine.

When the next morning came around, Kaku and Astrid got dressed and were about to head out to meet with everyone else in the theater room. On the stage were their back up members and a large rack of new clothes. Vic was yelling at Miss All-Sunday proclaiming that he would never wear anything that she was presenting to him. Kaku quickly made his way up to the stage in order to break up the argument. Miss All-Sunday proclaimed that if they can't change, then they should remove the dead weight. Once she was out of the room, Vic calmed down and sat in the chairs in the front row in silence. To see what Vic was actually talking about, Astrid jumped onto the stage to look through what Miss All-Sunday had given them. Each hanger had a set of clothes, one for each person. Astrid found hers and was shocked by the outfit that was given her.

"I'M NOT WEARING THIS!?" She yelled pulling it off of the rack.

The outfit consisted of an Alabasta original. A red bikini top and black shorts with a white veil skirt around the waist.

"How do they expect me to go onstage like this, I can't!" she continued to yell.

"We'll all change into our clothes now to adjust with the new routine," Kaku said not acknowledging Astrid's outrage and grabbing his own set of clothes.

"Oh sure, this coming from the guy who gets to wear clothes that cover his entire torso. I mean come on!"

"Actually Astrid, she gave me black pants and an open vest only."

"So, Crocodile gives you guys the fun outfits, but we are stuck with the lame Alabasta robes," Vic said.

"Give it a rest Vic and go get change. We start rehearsing as soon as everyone is ready," Kaku responded.

"I'm not wearing this," Astrid replied.

Kaku gave Astrid a glare which sent a shiver down her spine. She gave in and walked off of the stage in to a small dressing room to change. As much as she didn't like wearing the outfit she did see a plus side of the colorful gold on the veil. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and took in a deep breath. She calmly made her way to the stage unprepared from the responses she would get from the men she would be performing with. Vic and the other backups gave cat calls and other whistles when she walked in. Kaku's back was towards her as they hollered. He turned around to see the lovely partner standing before him as she nervously approached them. He began laughing at her making her feel embarrassed. Outraged, she clobbered him on the head as the backups began to laugh.

"Alright enough, we have work to do," she shouted.

Astrid went to walk away exposing her back to Kaku. Immediately he looked up and saw a long scarred mark along her back and the one bullet wound scar she had received on her very first mission.

"Astrid, your back. How come I didn't know?" he quietly approached her.

"And you still don't need to know," she said as she continued to walk away.

When the time of the performance came around, the group felt confident that the new attitude and modifications to their act would be enough to impress Crocodile. They performed, moving around on the stage like they never could before. During a minute break before the next song, Astrid had gazed out to the audience and noticed Miss All-Sunday sitting next to Crocodile with a smirk on her face. Kaku introduced the next song, which would be Astrid's solo bit of the performance. Looking at the two of them straight ahead and never veering away, she performed like she had never performed before.

After the show, Astrid was in the hotel room removing her revealing outfit to wear something more comfortable to her. Kaku joined soon after she was dressed and sat in a chair eating his dinner. When Kaku had pointed out her scar earlier, her behaviour was different. She was quiet and kept to herself. She had the odd feeling of wanting to get the mission done and over with. She had announced to Kaku that she was going to proceed in finding out if Nico Robin was Miss All-Sunday. Kaku proclaimed that it was a bad idea after their encounter with Crocodile the night prior. Ignoring what he said, she prepared herself to leave the room, but was stopped.

"Are you ok?" he asked, "You haven't been acting the same since this morning. If there is something wrong you can tell me. We're partners after all."

"It's none of your concern, I just want to get this mission done and over with as quickly as possible," she said pushing him aside.

As she walked down the hallway, she felt guilt for not informing her friend of the past she had experienced with her scar. She made her way down the stairs. By wandering around, she hoped that she would be able to find Miss All-Sunday. It didn't take her long to see the woman in all black with her cowboy hat walking outside of the building with Crocodile. Unsure of what to do, she made her way outside to at least see which direction they were going. The cold night desert air filled her lungs when she stepped outside. She decided to go alone once she could see the two of them walking down the main road. Crocodile and Miss All-Sunday proceeded to walk through town with Astrid not too far behind them. She stayed far enough away to where she could still be able to see where they were going, but far enough to where she could not be spotted.

The three of them had managed to make their way outside of town. They continued to walk until a man with a large wooden crate and buggy could be seen. Crocodile and Miss All-Sunday approached the man with the large crate as Astrid searched for a place to hide. She found a rock and proceeded to spy on the two as they converged with the mysterious man. She could see Crocodile talking to the man as the man continued to gesture towards the large crate. She was too far away to be able to hear what they were saying, but she could tell that Crocodile was starting to become furious with the man. In an instant hands began to appear around the man's body, grabbing him and pulling him back. His back was arched as he tried to yell out in pain. In an instant the hands jerked the man back as a large crack could be heard. The man fell to the ground without a sound. Miss All-Sunday gave a loud whistle. A large crab like creature appeared from the sand not far from where Astrid was. The creature came close to the two by the crate. Hands appeared out of nowhere on the crab creating a chain. The chain of hands grabbed onto the large crate and threw it up to the next set of hands on the crab. Eventually the crate was on top of the crab and it set off to an unknown destination. Astrid quickly moved to the other side of the rock as soon as Crocodile and Miss All-Sunday began to head back to the city. She allowed them to gain a lot of distance until she couldn't see them. She slowly got up from the rock and ran towards the man still on the ground by the crate. He was unconscious, but he was still breathing. She pulled him on top of the cart and began to run towards the city.

Once in the city, she sought out for medical help. She explained to anyone who had asked her that she had went for a walk outside of the city and had found him alone like this. She had made her way to the casino to inform Kaku of what she had seen. After the event, she was positive that Miss All-Sunday was Nico Robin. No other person had the capabilities such as that of her Flower-Flower devil fruit power. She walked up the stairs and made it to the suite hallway. Halfway down the hallway, Astrid had felt something strange wrapping around her preventing her from moving. Astrid had quickly looked down to see arms wraping around her, much like what she had seen with the man in the desert. A hand appeared from her shoulder and covered her mouth. Behind her she could hear the cool voice of Nico Robin.

"I don't know what you were doing out there, but whatever you saw is about to get you into a lot of trouble," she said walking in front of her with her arms crossed in an X formation in front of her. "I had a suspicion that something wasn't right when I first met you. Now tell me who you are and what you want."

The hand covering her mouth let go allowing Astrid to speak.

"I don't know what I saw and I have no idea what you are talking about. I was only sent here to perform and nothing else!" she lied as the arms around her body got tighter. "Miss All-Sunday, please let me go, I didn't mean to see anything. I just wanted to get some fresh air."

Nico Robin stood there with a very concerned look on her face and placed her hands at the side. The arms wrapped around Astrid's body were removed as Nico Robin walked past her.

"Make sure none of this happens again," she sternly said.

"I promise," Astrid responded with relief.

"Promise is not good enough. Seis Fleur," she called out placing her hands back into the X formation. Six arms had appeared around Astrid's body and grabbed her. "Twist!"

The arms that had grabbed her had twisted Astrid's body and bent it. She screamed out in pain and she collapsed to the ground. Nico Robin had walked down the stairs just before Kaku and the others were able to see what was going on. Kaku quickly ran to Astrid on the ground who still had consciousness.

"She's Nico Robin, Kaku. It is her. She did this. Quickly before Crocodile finds out that we know. Get us out of here."

Kaku helped her up and quickly grabbed the transponder snail.

"We have located Nico Robin. I repeat we have located Nico Robin in Alabasta. Get us out of here and fast! We have completed the mission but we are compromised."

They grabbed what things they deemed were important and prepared to escape out of the window. Astrid was able to get enough strength through her pain to climb down the rope with Kaku prepared to catch her if she were to fall.

Vic peered out of the window and called for them, "What the hell is going on! Where are you going?"

"Our apologies Vic, but this was bound to happen from the start. We have important matters to attend to and we hope you make it out alive," Kaku yelled as he helped Astrid run.

"Make it out alive? What on Earth is he talking about," Vic yelled at the others.

It wasn't long before Kaku and Astrid were able to hear the screams of the men they had once worked with. They had made their way to the docking bay to see a small boat with a Marine on it. Once in, they took off from the island to make their way to the Marine ship which had been docked since they began the mission. Kaku had sat Astrid down in a medical room to let someone look at her. She proclaimed that she was fine and left the room.

She proceeded to walk towards the ledge of the ship. While leaning on the ledge she gazed out at the ocean as they made their way back to their base.

"Now we proceed to the second phase of all of this," Kaku said while walking up next to her dressed in his usual dark clothes.

"Whatever that may be that is. Any idea of what it could be?"

"I don't know, but perhaps the others might. Once we get back we will know for sure."

"You should have seen her in the hall. The look on her face. She knew, somehow she knew."

"I don't understand why you even followed them to begin with. I swear one of these days you're going to end up dead."

"You don't understand, she was scared."

"Scared? How could she, she was under the protection of a Warlord. What could she possibly be scared of?"

"Perhaps it was the Warlord protecting her."

"Nonsense, if he really didn't need her she would have been dead or turned in already."

The two continued to discuss the reasoning behind Nico Robin and her presence in Alabasta and the second part to their mission. It was still unclear why they needed to confirm Nico Robin's whereabouts or why she was there to begin with. There were so many questions that needed to be answered, but the only people who are able to answer them are Nico Robin herself and the World who worked with her. Their ship proceeded to sail away from Alabasta, back to the base in which they will move on to their next assignments.


	6. Knowledge is Dangerous

p class="MsoNormal"Astrid and Kaku had arrived back at their base of operations from Alabasta. With the confirmation of Nico Robin's location, the World Government will then be able to come up with a plan of action for whatever secrets they were hiding. Once back into their comfortable rooms, Kaku and Astrid were able to relax and be themselves. They felt back at home within their own space however, there mission was not over just yet. It wasn't long after their arrival until they were summoned to speak with Spandam. Once in his room, they were seated on the couch waiting for his return./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I would've assumed that he would have been here already," Kaku stated./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSpandam burst into the room slamming the door against the wall. He walked in with a cup of hot tea and sat down in his chair. The moment he sat down, the chair moved causing him to spill the piping hot tea all over his lap. His scream was loud and high pitched for a full grown man. Kaku and Astrid sat their quietly watching their buffoon of a leader screaming and waving around frantically trying to cool his lap off with a few scraps of paper. Once he was able to settle down, he placed the tea cup to the side and starred straight into their eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Congratulations you two. You are the first two to complete your mission, and only in the matter of a few days, impressive. But the fun isn't over yet, there is still plenty of work to do. Tell me about Nico Robin," he said with a menacing smile./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She was a firecracker. Quick on her feet and very conniving. She was also confident." Kaku stated./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She was strong as well. Her devil fruit powers allowed her to take down a man with a twist of her arm, or arms I should say. I was lucky to be able to experience that power myself," said Astrid./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What the hell kind of assassin are you then?!" Spandam cried./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I did what I needed to do, I just happened to get caught."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Oh, don't you remember the last time that happened five years ago?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yes, sir."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You stupid girl, I should have never let you go. You could have screwed up the entire mission!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"If it wasn't for her actions, we wouldn't be sitting her before you now, Spandam," Kaku said standing up for her./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSpandam sat there in silence as Kaku sat down. They continued the rest of the report and left his office. That evening Astrid was alone in the kitchen. She sat on a bar stool stirring a cup of tea. Thoughts were running through her head. She was still unsure of the plans the World Government had, and not knowing was what made her uncomfortable./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanA few days had gone by and slowly everyone had returned and collaborated with Spandam. Kalifa and Astrid were in the main room discussing what a possible next level would be. Spandam had informed everyone that their mission wasn't fully completed just yet. There was a second part for most to follow./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Doesn't something seem fishy to you at all. I'm not sure what it is but something doesn't feel right," said Astrid adjusting herself in the chair./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Everything will be fine," Kalifa responded. "I'm curious, have you came across Baroque Works before?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No, I've never heard of them, why?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"We ran into a couple of imbeciles while working."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanLucci came into the room and sat in the chair next to Astrid. Hatori flew in not far behind and perched himself on Lucci's shoulder./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Ya know, you may want to reconsider what you say sometimes," Lucci said./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What do you mean?" Astrid responded/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I mean saying something like that could result in becoming the weaker link of the group. Spandam wouldn't like that."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAstrid left the room not wanting to deal with Lucci any longer. Ever since her incident when she was fourteen, Lucci had never truly respected her. He never saw her as a powerful assassin and had deemed her useless to CP9. However, due to persuasive arguments from others, Spandam had let her stay against Lucci's wishes./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"Astrid was back in her room sketching out her latest dream of the fire and the phoenix. A quiet knock was at the door. Kalifa came in and sat down on the bed./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Are you ok?" she asked./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll be fine, it's nothing new between he and I." she responded./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Alright. Just don't let him get to you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanKalifa left the room closing the door behind her. Astrid stared out the window looking at the sunny summer sky. Although the weather wasn't as warm as it was on Alabasta, it was still warm to her. She decided to head down to the beach for a refreshing swim. She gathered her things and changed into a swimsuit. Once down at the water, she had made sure that there was nobody around. After several years, she was still ashamed of how she looked with the long scar running down from the tip of her left shoulder to her right hip. She often wondered what she would be like if she had never received the scar in the first place. She laid out a towel and headed right to the water. Once she was far enough out, she dived down into the water, enjoying every moment of being in its cool grasp. She could remember the times when she was a kid swimming with the entire CP9 group. The laughs that they would share filled her heart with joy, but times had changed. It was harder and harder for them to all have a good laugh anymore. What they have all seen and have done have created a different exterior. The only person who seemed unaffected the least was Kaku. He still managed to walk around with a smile on his face. How he can manage that was unknown to Astrid, but no matter the circumstance she glad that he is around. She continued to swim around until she could hear a voice. It wasn't very far but she couldn't tell who it was. Once they had gotten close enough she could see that it was Kaku. She swam up to the shore and immediately grabbed a towel./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What are you doing out here by yourself?" He asked taking his shirt off./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I was just swimming,"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll join, it's hot out," he replied proceeding to take his shoes off./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No its ok I was just about to head in anyways."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nonsense," he said removing his belt./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanOnce he was undressed and ready for the water he ran right in. He continued to call for Astrid as she was starting to pack her things up. He quickly got out of the water and picked her up. She began screaming, kicking and trying to push him away. Her yells brought the attention of the other CP9 members as they all came out of the building. She was able to get him to let go as she fell to the ground. Her towel fell once she stood back up with her back facing the others revealing her scar./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"So that's why she doesn't go in the waters with him," Lucci said as he approached them./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe others weren't very far behind as they all stood by them./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Come on, let the man have a little fun," Jabra said./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm going inside now," Astrid responded as she bent down to pick her towel up./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No you're not," Kaku replied picking her up once again./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"YOYO! In the summer wind, you must enjoy the warm sea, to become happy!" Kumadori shouted./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanOnce again, Astrid was able to get out of Kaku's arms. She stood there in the sand prepared for the next attempt./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Care to make a wager?" He asked. "I win, you get in the water. You win and you get to go back," he said getting ready in a fighting stance./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You and your wagers," she responded returning the stance throwing the towel aside without thinking too much of it./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe ran full force with her fist in the air in front of her. He had grabbed her arm moving his leg behind her legs giving them a quick kick. She landed on the ground and moved just before he was able to pin her down. Once she was standing she charged at his side knocking them both down to the ground. Lucci had picked Astrid up from Kaku and Blueno had picked Kaku up from the sand. The two waltzed in to the water and threw both of them in./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hey!" yelled Astrid./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"If you two would just quick you squawking and just get in already it wouldn't' have happened," replied Lucci with a smile./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanA few minutes later everyone was in the water enjoying the day. That evening Astrid was in her room. She was sitting in silence as she sketched out some new designs of ships. Eventually she was able to overhear voices that were nearby. She could make out Kaku and Kalifa talking in the hallway./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I can't believe you never figured out what happened," Kalifa./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I never knew she got that on a mission. How did it happen I mean she's trained just like the rest of us?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nobody actually knows, she's kept it hidden from all of us. It's a real shame though, I thought that she would be comfortable enough to tell us."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"So you're saying that nobody actually knows except for her and Spandam?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe could hear them walk away. She assumed that they were talking about her scar. They were right, she had not told a single person what exactly happened on the mission when she received it. But it was a troublesome event. She sat her desk for what seemed like a few hours until in thought she caved in. Kalifa was right, at this point she was comfortable to share it with at least one person she had grown the closest to over the years. It just wasn't fair to herself to keep it locked up and be ashamed of who she was because of this feature./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"She got up from her desk and walked out of her room. At this time everyone was in bed and sound asleep. She quietly tapped on Kaku's door down the hallway. There was no answer prompting her to quietly open the door just enough to peer into the room. He was reading a book that Spandam had recently given him. She quietly walked in without him noticing and stood there for a minute or two waiting for him to say something. She gave up quickly and sat down on his bed./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Astrid, what are you…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I need to talk to you, about something very personal," she began pulling the book away from him./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Ok, I'm listening," he replied, his eyes filled with concern as they were locked onto her./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I overheard you talking to Kalifa…it was about my scar wasn't it?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You heard it all huh?" he replied putting the book aside./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I think you should know," she said looking into his eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanWhen Astrid was fourteen, Spandam had approached her with a very unusual mission. The World Government wanted to retrieve any information that they could get their hands on, on the Revolutionaries that had begun to pop up more and more often. She was sent to a small island to be disguised as a fugitive on the run from Marine's. Marines had dropped her off on one side of the island and sailed to the opposite side. She made her way into the town keeping an eye out for any suspicious people. The theory was that if Revolutionaries were able to catch Astrid taking down Marine's that it would earn their trust. The plan worked. In the center of town Marine's came charging after her after she had punched one of them. She needed to defend herself and make it look convincing, not letting the Marine's know that she would actually take them down. Little did she know, two Revolutionaries were watching./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanLater that evening, Astrid had made her way into a back alleyway. She made herself a small bed to sleep for the night. As she was getting ready a small dog approached. Not thinking much of it, she gave the small dog a pat on the head. The dog started barking which had alerted three men. In a split second the three men had her shackled. She was unable to defend herself in time. As she tried to fight back with her shackled legs and hands. One of them had put a sack over her head. She couldn't see anything at all. While trying to do something about the three strange men, she felt something hit her hard in the head. The blow to the head was enough to make her off balance, slamming her head into the cement wall. That final strike to the head was strong enough to knock her out./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe woke up with the bag removed from her head. She looked around to see men and women in robes with hoods covering their faces. She was unsure of where she was or why she was there to begin with./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Who are you," a man with a deep voice asked./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What's going on, where am I?" she asked in reply./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll ask again, who are you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"First tell me who you are," she responded./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe man grabbed a small knife and cut across her face, "WHO ARE YOU!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"My name is Ash," she lied./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What is your purpose here?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHe slashed her shoulder with the knife./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm just traveling," she said crying out in pain./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Why are you traveling alone? You're only a little girl."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"If a little girl is all you see then why are you doing this to me?" she questioned. The man stood there in silence as she continued, "I have words for your leader,"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She's lying! She's only saying that to get out of here. Why would there be Marine's after her, she is just bad news," a women yelled./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What is your purpose here?" the man asked./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"To speak with your leader," Astrid responded./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Bring me the whip."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanA small boy came from the corner with a whip. The whip had metal teeth resembling thorns. A whip that struck fear in her eyes at the pain it will cause if she doesn't get out of there soon./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Why are Marine's following you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I don't know,"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You have one more chance, now tell me why there are Marine's following you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Because I'm wanted for killing a whole pirate crew, I don't know."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Not a good enough reason," he said walking behind her. He ripped off the back of her shirt. A woman tied a cloth into her mouth and around her head. She began tearing up, fearing the pain. The man wound up and slashed her back deep into the skin creating a large wound across her back. She screamed in pain and started crying. The door slammed open as a hooded man walked on./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What is the meaning of this," he yelled grabbing the other man's arm. "This is not who we are, this is not what we represent." He untied the cloth from her mouth, "You should be ashamed of yourselves. She is only a little girl."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Sir, she says she has information for you," a woman said./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Speak with what strength you have," he knelt down./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"They're after you, they're after all of you." Astrid responded./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Who is?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"The World Government knows too much. Get out while you still can," she said with as much strength as she could muster up./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I need you to get me bowl of water. You tend to her wounds, grab the doctor in town if you have to. We need to come up with something. If she is right, we need to move faster," the man said unshackling her as people surrounded them. "As for you, I will deal with you later," he gestured to the man who had tortured her out of fear./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe was beginning to loose blood at an alarming rate. She could hear people talking as they were grabbing her. She couldn't make out what was going on and eventually collapsed from the lack of blood and strength./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"When she woke up, she was in a bed in a doctor's room. She could hear the waves of the ocean. Slowly she sat up, wincing in pain from her back injury. Her body was wrapped with bandages to accommodate the injury./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanA Marine walked in, "Take it easy, we found you in the doctor's house in the town. We weren't sure what had happened but he explained that hooded people had left you in his hands. When we hadn't heard from you we came in."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I failed," she replied./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm sorry?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I failed my mission, do you not realize what that means?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I don't follow,"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I was better off dead because they are going to kill me anyways when I return. I know too much and I failed a mission. That means that they can't just terminate me from the group. They're going to terminate me completely."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe began crying holding her head in her knees. The Marine stood there not knowing what to do and left the room./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanWhen they had docked at their hometown where their base was, Spandam was waiting for them. She was escorted off of the ship with Marines helping her walk. She looked over to the fenced offed area and saw Lucci leaning on it with Kalifa peeking through the gate. Jabra was staring out of his bedroom window with Blueno sitting next to him. She began to tear up slightly as she was escorted directly into Spandam's office./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" he yelled./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yes sir," she said quietly./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"YOU ICOMPETANT CHILD! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOUR PARENTS! UNBELIEVABLE!" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'm sorry sir"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"SORRY WON'T CUT IT!" he yelled right into her face./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanKaku walked into the room unannounced./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"And what do you want! This is not a good time," Spandam continued to shout./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"With all due respect sir, Astrid is an assent to the team," he responded putting his hand on her shoulder./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"And what exactly makes her an asset when she is the only one to fail the mission."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"She is not incompetent like you say. Whatever she did, she returned and came back with a report."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS!?" Spandam yelled./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You should really think about closing your door the next time you talk about mission's sir," he responded giving him a glare. "Either she stays, or we both go."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! You CHILDREN! UNBELIEVABLE! HOW COULD YOU EVEN…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanKaku stood next to Astrid with a very stern look on his face. He was serious about what he had said. Spandam caved in and let Astrid stay in CP9. Both of them were outside by the gate./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Thank you Kaku, that…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Maybe, next time you should have done your job right and maybe we wouldn't be in this position. You're lucky enough I even showed up, otherwise you wouldn't even be on this island," he said walking away./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAstrid looked up at Kaku. The disbelief on his face said it all. After realizing that she still remembered the entire conversation she had, had with Spandam, she began to feel very emotional. Tears swelled up in her eyes as she began to cry. Kaku, with a saddened look on his face, put his arm around her and brought her in closer to his chest. She wept on his shoulder for a good ten minutes before feeling exhausted./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I can't believe it. I can't believe that you were just sent to retrieve clues, and this happens. I can't believe this whole time," he said looking down into his lap./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I let my guard down," she responded./p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, but how could you have known right?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe looked up at him as he shared a small smile. She felt a little better after sharing what had happened to her all those years ago. Lessons were learned that night and Astrid had owed Kaku a favor in return after what he had done. She could never thank him enough for what he had done and wanted to find a way to make it up to him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"Although the relationship between her and Kaku had grown, it didn't speak for the relationship that she had with Lucci. Her failure to complete a mission forever burned within her as he regretted allowing her to continue her work alongside them. Lucci resented the fact that she was able to stay and often threatened to have her removed from the group through undesirable methods. Even though she had grown considerable and had proven to be the great asset that Kaku claimed that she was nothing had seemed to change his thoughts about her. Things didn't help when Fukuro collected their strength testing. She was always deemed as the weakest of the group. He never forgave her for her failure and neither had Spandam. She continued to try her hardest. Her latest mission with Kaku had impressed Spandam which gave her more confidence to be able to do anything once again./p 


	7. Birthday Hitch

A few weeks had gone by since the last time Astrid had mention anything about her scar. April 22nd came around, the day before Kalifa's birthday. Astrid was sitting with Jabra in the library coming up with some sort of way to give her a surprise. They concluded that whatever would happen, would be the best birthday she would have had since she arrived here.

"We could put out all of her favorite foods out on a table," Jabra said waving his arms to imitate a spread of food.

"Do you know what her favorite songs are? Maybe Kaku and I could learn how play them."

"I didn't know you two knew how to play anything," he said leaning back in the chair.

"We didn't but after last month, let's just say we became quick learners."

"You had to do it for your top secret paired mission?"

"Weird huh?"

The two continued to come up with a plan to throw the party. Right as they were wrapping up the last of their incredible plan, Kalifa walked in. Out of a quick instinct Jabra transformed into a wolf. He charged after Kalifa bringing her out of the room. Astrid had no idea why he had done it and felt that it was some sort of instinctive idiotic move. She grabbed the few pieces of papers from the table and calmly walked out of the room. In the hallway was Jabra back to normal on top of Kalifa. She continued to scream out "Sexual Harassment" as Astrid walked by.

Later that evening Kalifa approached Astrid. She had recently come back from town and was expressing her fondness of the new haircut and glasses. The two of them were in the dining hall watching the rain hit the window. Astrid could see that something was troubling Kalifa, but she could not make out what it could be.

"Kalifa, you should be excited, tomorrow is birthday after all," Astrid said as she brought a cup of tea to her face.

"I know, but my feelings about the World Government have been changing for the worse lately,"

"This again? What is it this time?"

"Spandam left his door open again. I was coming from the library and I heard, something that I probably should have never heard."

She sat there staring at her cup. What she had heard was really troubling her and Astrid began to be more concerned with the matter.

"Have you ever heard about pluton or anything that might be a giant weapon?" she asked Astrid.

Kalifa went on to explain what she had heard. According to Spandam and a World Government official, there were several ancient weapons that are capable of mass destruction. The kind of destruction that was more terrible than what a buster call could be. However, the whereabouts of these weapons remain unknown due to the only evidence they have being written in an ancient language. A language that only men and women of Ohara were capable of translating. This meant that there was no hope in identifying the weapons. The intentions of the World Government and the weapons were to maintain peace and harmony by all means necessary. However, Ohara fell victim to the buster call by the government's orders.

"What if they mean to kill people, innocent people Astrid? What if these weapons are the real demise of our society?"

"Wait, you said that people from Ohara are the only people who are able to translate it right?" Astrid asked while placing her cup on the table.

"At least that's what I overheard."

"That explains why…" Astrid trailed off finding the connection between Nico Robin and the government.

"Why what?"

"Nothing important. On a happier note, we are going into town tomorrow night for a celebration right?"

The next morning, Astrid had met up with Blueno and Kumadori. She clarified the plans for them to prepare all of Kalifa's favorite foods. Once they headed into town, she met up with Fukuro. It was Fukuro's job to decorate the dining room. Jabra met up with Astrid to inform her that Lucci was set with keeping Spandam away from the party or every knowing that the party was taking place as well as taking Kalifa out away from the base. With that in mind, she confronted Kaku soon afterward to prepare a few musical jingles that were Kalifa's favorite. While working in Kaku's room, she couldn't help but to mention something about what Kalifa had overheard.

"Nico Robin is from Ohara right?" she asked him.

"If I remember correctly, I believe she is. Why?"

She informed Kaku what Kalifa had told her. As she continued to distribute the information, the look on his face started to grow in fear. The fear turned into concern when she mentioned that a group of Ohara villagers were capable of reading the ancient language.

"You don't think she can read it can you?" Kaku asked.

"It's the only explanation as to why we would be observing her to begin with. If she is partnered with Crocodile, then there is a possibility that they are wanting to find one of these weapons."

"That explains everything. So, what happens?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a sneaky suspicion that whatever we have to do from here on out will be related to this woman"

A loud chime could be heard. It was time for Astrid to take over Lucci's duties and take Kalifa out for a birthday celebration while the others continue with the set up. She told Kaku that they would be back a specific time. She ran into her room and changed into a beautiful orange dress and prepared herself to have a night on the town with a close friend.

On the way out she ran into Kaku and Jabra. Although the encounter wasn't the usual. She had turned the corner to leave the base. The door had swung open to hit her in the face knocking her down. On the other side was a flustered Kaku with Jabra beside him. Jabra began to laugh as a red faced Kaku knelt down to make sure she was ok. Unfortunately the unusual outfit she was wearing threw Kaku off his guard.

"Wow! Would you look at that outfit!" Jabra called out with a wolf howl.

"Ya…it's…a…a…a lovely dress," Kaku said helping Astrid up from the ground.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, the boy can't handle a woman's luscious body!" Jabra said throwing his back to the wall in laugher.

"Jabra, that is sexual harassment," said Kalifa standing right beside him wearing a slick black dress.

"WOOO," he called out.

A slap across the face was enough to keep Jabra quiet. Astrid had thanked Kaku for helping her up. He continued to stammer saying it was nothing and began to spew out nothing but nonsense. Astrid giggled. Never before had she seen this type of behaviour come from Kaku. The sudden change might be an indication of something the two men were discussing on the way to the base. Kalifa and Astrid walked into town down to the local bar. The two of them were enjoying their time together drinking up the night. Nothing was about to ruin their fun. Music was playing and the girls were dancing. Eventually they became intoxicated, unable to properly focus leaving them semi-defenceless. A group of rowdy gentlemen had entered the bar. They too were enjoying the night. The men began to take notice on the two CP9 girls enjoying their night out. They approached them wanting to join in on their fun. The two girls did not accept their invitation and left them to return to the bar. The gentlemen proceeded to confront the women urging them to join the fun. Continuously the women refused and began to grow irritated by their constant invitations. Little did the two know, they were notorious men involved in slave trade of women.

Eventually the time came when Astrid needed to bring Kalifa back to the base to join the others in the celebration of her birthday. The walked out of the building not realizing that the men had followed them. As they were laughing care free, the men had snuck up behind both of them and grabbed them. They had pulled the two into a back alley.

"These girls will go for a very pretty price," a large gentlemen said pulling out shackles from a bag.

"Indeed they will, so beautiful," replied a skinny toothy man.

"Men, I believe that these women need to be shown what their new life will consist of, don't you think?" said a large muscular man cracking his neck.

He approached the two as they were trapped up against a wall. His grimy hands had grabbed a hold of Kalifa as she stammered helpless. In a quick instant, Astrid had swung her leg below the belt. The man cringe in pain letting her go. Quickly, Astrid had grabbed Kalifa away from him and ran past the other men. They continued to run in the opposite direction of their base.

"Astrid, where are we going, home is the other way!" she cried out

"We need to direct them away from home. That way when we lose them we can go straight home."

They pulled away from the main road as they heard the men get closer. As they continued to run down a residential road, Astrid pulled off to the side with Kalifa right behind her. They hid in between two homes waiting for the men to run by.

"Are you ok, are you hurt?" Astrid asked trying to examine Kalifa.

"I'm fine, just a little shaken," she replied pushing Astrid away. "I don't get it, why didn't I fight back."

"It's ok, your judgement is clouded right now from the alcohol."

"THEY'RE IN HERE!" yelled the skinny man as he rounded the corner where they were.

He swung a chain that had wrapped around Astrid preventing her from moving. The shaken Kalifa went to go help her but was also caught in a chain thrown by another man. The large muscular man approached them both once he had arrived.

"Do you think its funny pulling a stunt like that?" he asked grabbing a hold of Astrid's face.

He threw her down to the ground next to Kalifa who was now shackled by the one of the other men. She tried to kick and scream but made no change to her current condition. The large muscular man had picked Kalifa up by her hair as she screamed out in pain. He pinned her up against the wall as Astrid tried to get up to help.

"You are going to make me a wealthy man. You and your little friend here," he said getting really close to Kalifa.

The men around them began to chuckle.

"I FOUND THEM!" yelled out a voice.

A man in black had jumped down from what appeared to be the sky. He pulled the large muscular man away from Kalifa and threw him against the wall. A large wolf like creature came barreling into the alleyway knocking down a couple of the men. It was Kaku and Jabra out looking for the two girls. The two of them were able to take down all of the men with great ease. Kaku had untied Astrid from the chains while Jabra unshackled Kalifa.

"Some birthday," Jabra said throwing the shackles to the ground.

"Are you both ok?" Kaku asked.

The two girls nodded. Astrid had looked over at Kalifa whose face was blank.

"He said that I would make a pretty penny for him. Men like him are out there. I don't want this to ever happen again," she said giving the large muscular man a final kick to the gut. "I will stand for whatever the World Government believes in, in order to prevent men like him from doing this to anyone. Everyone deserves justice."

Once back home the others were unaware of the events. When they had walked into the dining hall, the others began cheering happy birthdays to Kalifa. She stared them down with a menacing glare affecting all of them but Lucci. With Kaku, Jabra, and Astrid behind her, the two walked further into the room not saying a word.

"What happened?" Lucci asked.

Kalifa kicked the table knocking it onto its side. She yelled out in frustration as Jabra, Kaku, and Astrid watched her. The others backed away with great concern. Jabra had informed them of the events that had taken place once Kalifa had left the room. This was a birthday that she would never forget.

Back in Astrid's room, Kaku and Astrid were talking.

"So these men just followed you?" Kaku asked sitting down on her bed.

"Yes, they did. I never would have thought that men like that would be around here. I'm just ashamed that we weren't able to defend ourselves."

"I wouldn't beat myself up too much about it if I were you. After all, you ladies had been drinking prior to all of this."

"I know, but I couldn't help but to think, if I were only stronger, then I could do something about it."

"You can train all you want to become stronger, but your strength relies on your courage, your wisdom, and your belief on what you think is right," he said as she sat down in the chair.

The back of her dress was ripped where the zipper was exposing little bits of her scar.

"Your dress…it's ruined," he said gesturing to her back.

She tried to see what he was talking about and had realized what he meant. She tried to unzip it just to see if she could get out of it easily. Unfortunately due to the rip, the zipper was stuck halfway.

"Here let me help you," Kaku said without any hesitation.

He pulled out a small pocketknife from his jacket as Astrid stood up from the chair. By using the knife he was able to cut the teeth of the zipper to pry it apart. The dress fell past her shoulders as she was able to catch it before it could fall any further. Kaku had placed a hand on her exposed shoulder without thinking. She quickly turned around causing his hand to glide around her back to the other side.

"Everything will be alright. I'll be here for you no matter what," he said removing his hand from her shoulder and placing his pocketknife back within his jacket.

Kaku had left the room in silence. Something strange had manifested within him. It was if the men had affected his way of thinking just as they had done with Kalifa. Whatever it was that had infiltrated his mind had turned the babbling buffoon from earlier that day to a concerned man who was willing to protect anything that was dear to him. Astrid had gone to bed feeling a warm comforting feeling. Through all of the nonsense that had happened that day, she was able to rely on his words of wisdom to make sense of it all.

He was different from the others, very mature for his age, but not prepared for the world he was about to enter. Astrid relied on him as a friend to help her through the rough times. He and Kalifa were there for every troublesome moment that she had experience. Every birthday, every tear she had shed, every moment, except those she was forbidden to share by the World Government. Even after the past that they had shared together, something in the back of her head told her that this wouldn't last. She couldn't make out what it was, but something didn't feel right about the decisions of Spandam and those he contacted. A lot went through her mind as she fell asleep.


	8. Water 7

Weeks had gone by since Kalifa's birthday and the attacks. Every day since then, Kalifa had picked Lucci to help her become stronger than she already was. With Fukuro's ability, he was able to rank each CP9 member judging by their strength and strength alone without devil fruit powers. Before, Kalifa was the lowest member to be ranked aside from Spandam who ranked lower than that of a typical Marine guard. With her recent training she had become stronger and moved up a whole rank. This resulted in Astrid, to become the weakest member of the team. However, what she had lacked in strength, she made up for in manipulation, craftsmanship, and speed.

Astrid and Kaku were training as they normally would. However, she had decided to change her fighting method. She had gone from using her typical sword to using a whip much like what Kalifa had been using. At first she stumbled on the whip or cracked it on herself. She seemed to not be able to develop a technique with the whip that best suited her. That was until Kaku charged at her with one of his blades. She ducked down in time, sliding behind him while flying the whip. The whip had coiled itself around the blade. It took a second for Astrid to realize that she was finally able to get a hang of it. She finally was able to pull on the whip to yank the sword out of his hand. As expected, the sword came out and swung down to the ground off to the side. Unfortunately, it was only that one move that Astrid was able to do at that one moment of time. She was not able to recreate the move nor was she able to defend herself properly. Just as usual, Astrid had lost the match against Kaku. Just as they were putting their weapons away and getting ready to clean themselves off, Spandam walked into the court.

"Gather around, I don't want any delays," he yelled as they all began to walk towards him. "It is time for a select few of you to go on a very important mission. A mission that will require you to develop all your cunning skills to deceive and conquer those who get in the way."

"Sir, what do you mean by a select few," asked Blueno.

"Three of you will be staying here with me, in case all else fails, they will be the back-up," he responded. "The World Government wants a set of blue prints. This blueprints will assure the perfect world that we have so longed for. But in order to get our hands on it, I need people to go in undercover to retrieve the information on where they might be and get them. Lucci, Kaku, Blueno, Kalifa, and Astrid, I want all of you in my office now. The rest of you will enjoy a lovely vacation here while the others run off to play."

"Wait, you're keeping me here?! This is absurd!" Jabra yelled, "Of all people, you're letting this long nosed freak join the little secret team!"

"Jabra calm down, there is no need for shouting," Lucci said putting his hand on Jabra's shoulder causing a great amount of tension to fill the air as he stared directly into his eyes.

Jabra growled and murmured something under his breath as the others all gathered into Spandam's office.

"You will be going to Water 7 and finishing where my father and I have failed. I man named Tom was known as one of the most powerful shipwrights in the world known for building the ship of Gold D Roger and the creation of the sea train. It is believed that this man had held onto the blueprints of a powerful creation called Pluton. I want you all to figure out what happened to this blueprints and grab them."

"What does the World Government want with blueprints such as this?" Astrid asked.

Spandam glared at her, "To create a world of justice, now shut up or I'll make you shut up you insufferable woman!" He yelled at her standing up in his as if to threaten her.

Once seated he continued, "Now, it is believed that the man known as Iceberg, the mayor of Water 7, was one of the boys I saw claiming to be one of Tom's workers. He has become well known for his shipwright company Galley-La. Lucci and Kaku will go in as shipwrights for the company, Kalifa will be his new secretary for Iceberg and whatever he does. Blueno, I want you to become close to the citizens and earn their trust by becoming the bar owner, owned by a man who will die of natural causes," he said pulling out a small vile from his desk.

"But sir, isn't that killing an innocent man that has no relation to what we are doing?" Astrid asked.

"It is just one man," he responded.

"But isn't that going against the form of justice that we represent?"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled throwing a tea cup at her head. The tea cup shattered leaving small cuts to line her forehead and cheek.

"Yes sir," she replied allowing the blood to trickle down into her eye.

"You will listen to me, you are lucky that I am allowing you to be a part of this in the first place. I needed a woman like you to get close to Iceberg. Closer than anyone else in this room, understand?"

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Figure it out. You will all be sent at different times to avoid any form of suspicion. Starting off with Blueno tonight. Now all of you…GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!"

Once they had left the office they were ordered once again not to talk amongst each other just in case the other three were around to here. Allowing them to know what the mission was could damage the overall cause of the mission.

That night, Astrid couldn't help to be bothered by what Spandam had told them. A helpless old man was about to die for justice. Growing up she was brainwashed to believe that every action she had done was under the mean of creating a world of justice. Every place she had been, every item she had stolen, every life she had taken, where all under the belief of justice. Now that she was older, now that she has been under more stressful situations, she began to wonder who the real bad guy was. While in her room she sat down with a pen and paper, trying to come up with a way she was comfortable with to get close to Iceberg. Kaku was walking by when he noticed her repeatedly banging her head lightly on her desk.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"No, I can't figure out a good way to do the thing, when I don't know the guy or how he reacts to the thing," she said trying to discretely talk about her portion of the mission.

"Well getting to know the guy is a start, perhaps taking it to the next levels are the best options."

"But I don't want to, you know me, I'm not a romancer!" She proclaimed once again banging her head on the desk.

"Well you're not wrong. First just try being yourself, but in this case not yourself. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Just be his friend?"

He winked at her and started to walk away.

"Hey wait, come back!" Astrid called getting up from her chair and rushing towards the doorway.

One by one each member chosen for the mission where set off to Water 7 during the span of the month. As expected, Astrid was the last one to arrive.


	9. Judgement

Once all of the other members had left the base, Astrid was alone with Spandam. He approached her one morning in the middle of the courtyard.

"You're weak Astrid," he said in a low menacing voice. "If it wasn't for your Lucci's mere form of kindness, I would have killed you by now. You are worthless to me and the World Government. Each mission you have gone on these past few years have been nothing but successful failures. You have done nothing but succeed out of mere stupid luck! Can't you do anything right you worthless piece of shit!" he yelled slapping her across the face hard enough for her to fall.

"You are a failure, a disgrace, I could kill you right now if I could!" he continued to yell. "You are one of the reasons why the World Government hasn't achieved a greater world of justice!"

"Justice! JUSTICE! Is this what you call justice? Murdering innocent people for mere purposes of knowledge and obtaining priceless artifacts to which people believe to be Gods. Is this what you call justice? We have slaughtered millions of good people for the good of our own government's belief of this so called justice?"

Spandam yelled as he kicked her down further to the ground, "This justice that the World Government tries to maintain is the whole reason why you are even alive today, or have you forgotten the reason why your true mother is dead. Oh that's right, you hate being reminded that your mother was killed by the hands of filthy bloodthirsty pirates. Well its reasons like that for why we need to do what we need to do to prevent further lives to be destroyed by the hands of those who don't follow the laws and rules of the Government. Justice, is what keeps everyone and everything in order under the World Government, and if you fail to see that, then you are one of those filthy beings who deserves to die for the cause."

"You really believe that a world of justice means a better place for everyone to live in?"

"If you do your job right for once, it can be. You're lucky that Kalifa was able to convince Iceberg to create a position as a bookkeeper for you," he said walking away.

Astrid remained on her knees as a small trickle of blood came down from her nose. Torn between two beliefs, the lives of millions compared to the lives that will be. She wanted the world to be a better place, but she knew that in order to do that she needed to make those sacrifices.

"Just once more, I just have to do this once more. They say that if we succeed after this mission, we would be able to take a gigantic leap towards a better world. Only one life needs to be sacrificed to make this leap. Just one more life compared to millions of others that will live in this new world."

Months had gone by as Astrid trained with great determination. What she believed in was that if she could manage to kill one more life, she would be able to save the lives of many. She would be deemed a hero in the eyes of the World Government. She not only had to play the part of the hero, she had to become the hero. She needed to be stronger, faster, and better at everything. She needed to prove to not only Spandam and the World Government but to herself that she is not worthless like everyone is making her out to seem. She was Astrid and she will be strong.

The day finally came when she would step onto the boat to begin her mission. It has been six months since she had seen any of the other members. In that time she kept true to herself and the belief of a justified world. Once she had arrived at a dock in Water 7 she was given a small piece of paper with an address written on it. Without looking back she began to wander the streets of Water 7. She made her way into town not making eye contact with anyone. It didn't take her long to realize that she had already failed her first task in part of her mission.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I!" She yelled.

"Excuse miss, but are you lost?" a young boy asked.

"Actually, I am. You don't happen to think you'd be able to tell me how to get here?" she asked handing him the slip of paper.

"WOW, you're trying to get to Dock 1?" the young boy asked with big sparkling eyes.

"Sure, yeah can you just point me in the right direction?"

"They are the coolest ever! I can take you there it's not that far," he said with excitement.

"Sure whatever I just need to get there."

"Right this way miss!" He said taking off down the street.

Astrid quickly ran after the boy trying hard not to bump into anyone else that was on the street. As they crossed a bridge Astrid finally caught sight of a yagara bull. She paused for a minute in awe of the strange creature. She quickly realized that the small boy was getting away from her and ran in search of him. She was able to catch up to him as he ran below a second bridge. Not too far in front of them was a small crowd of people.

"Here we are miss, Dock 1! The coolest dock ever in Water 7 with their cool foreman! Hey miss, how are you going to get in? They don't usually open the doors to the public."

"They don't huh. Don't worry kid, I'll get in."

Astrid thanked the young boy and began to walk toward the small crowd. As she pushed passed the few people that were there, she was able to walk up to the gate. She began to knock on the gate as if it were a regular door. People behind her began to laugh hysterically at her. She began to walk backwards while holding her arms out to force the crowd behind her to back as well. Once she had reached a reasonable distance, she took a deep breath. With just a couple of steps she jumped and reached an incredible height and distance. Mid-air she looked down at the small boy whose eyes had shone brighter than ever before. She gave him a small wink with a smile as she was descending into the Dock 1 keep. She stood up from the ground and gave herself a slight dust off.

"Hey, who the hell are you!" screamed a man's voice. "And what do you think you are doing exposing yourself in that way, you need to cover up pervert," a blushing man with a jean jacket and a cigar in his mouth said as he approached her.

Astrid looked down to see what he was talking about, but all she could see was her normal brown jacket and jean shorts, "What are you talking about? Besides it's too hot to be wearing anything else."

"I don't care! I woman should not be walking around with that much skin showing!"

"Who the hell do you think you are trying to tell me what to wear?!" she yelled throwing her fist into the air.

"What is the meaning of this?!" yelled a woman's voice.

"Miss Kalifa, I wasn't expecting you to…" he paused to look at CP9's Kalifa wearing a black skirt that went above her knee, "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO COVER UP!"

"HOW MANY TIME HAVE I TOLD YOU TO MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS PAULIE!" she yelled back.

"What on Earth is with all of the yelling," came a young man's voice.

Out from behind some board was CP9's Kaku with a Galley-Law hat and an orange jumpsuit like outfit. He paused with a stunned look on his face once he had made eye contact with Astrid. He quickly lost his eye contact and tried to look elsewhere.

"Kalifa, there you are!" said a man with blue hair as he approached the group.

"Sir, this woman has appeared to have jumped the wall," Kalifa replied as he stood next to her, "And Paulie continues to have a problem with the way women are dressing these days."

"Is that so, so you managed to jump that wall, impressive. What brings you here to Dock 1 miss?"

"My name is Astrid, and I came for the book keeper position with Galley-Law," she said as she went to shake his hand.

"Splendid, you're hired," he replied with a smile and returning the handshake.

"But sir!" Kalifa proclaimed.

"Iceberg, you can't possibly let this stranger just become a member of Galley-Law after she had trespassed onto the property and came here dressing like that nonetheless," Paulie cried.

"Paulie, Kalifa, we need a bookkeeper and it's not every day that we get someone as eager as her literally jumping over the wall to get a position here at Galley-Law."

"Sir, everyday people try." Kalifa responded fixing her glasses.

"Is that so? Well it's not every day that someone actually makes it over. Kaku what do you think?'

"I…uhh…uhhh…" Kaku stammered completely caught off guard

"Excellent, welcome Miss Astrid!"

Later that day, Astrid had made her way towards what would be her new home for the next few years in Water 7. In this small apartment were all the necessities already to help start her off as she begins the mission. On the counter was a transponder snail that was connected to Spandam directly. Immediately after finding it she reported her current position in the mission. So far Spandam was very pleased with her progress. She had already advanced farther than what was expected. After hanging up she couldn't help but to sit back and take in what she was now a huge part of. She had met Iceberg on the first day of her mission. She had already infiltrated the Galley-Law company and became the bookkeeper without any sort of complication. So far the mission was far too easy that what she had expected. She even managed to run into two of her closest friend Kalifa and Kaku. Although they didn't acknowledge their friendship towards one another in any sort of way, it was still nice to be able to at least see them after being separated from them for so long. The silence was broken by a knock at the door. As she answered it, there on the other side was Kaku.

"But ho…"she tried to say but Kaku had placed a finger over her mouth and pushed her back into the house. He shut the door behind them.

"I followed you home from the rooftops," he said.

He placed his hand on her shoulders and stared into her eyes. Astrid stared back beginning to feel more and more awkward the longer they stood there in silence. Just as she was about to say something else, he pulled her in for a hug.

"I missed you Astrid," he said. "We all have, we all missed being around your antics."

"I'm glad that's the thing you guys missed about me most," she said with her face being squished in Kaku's shoulder. As she pried herself from his arms she said, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to fill you in on what is going on and what you should kind of expect going in."

He continued to tell her that every so often the CP9 member would gather together in the basement of the bar that Blueno currently owns to share details of their mission. Outside of those meeting, Lucci does not speak directly from his own mouth but rather from his pesky pigeon Hattori. Kalifa has managed to become very close to Iceberg as his assistant, but not close enough to where she can get access to his books. But with great convincing he was able to find someone he deems worthy enough to keep an organization to those books, Astrid.

"Other than that, there really isn't anything else," he said sitting back.

"So wait, he'll let a complete stranger he just meet become a bookkeeper of his books that he wouldn't let his own assistant touch? Don't you find that to be a bit strange?"

"Come to think of it, that does sound a little odd. Do you think he has a sneaky suspicion about Kalifa's identity?"

"I don't think so, I think he just doesn't trust her well enough. I mean look at her, we both know how strict she can be."

"That's true, but it still doesn't make sense."

"I should get going, before someone becomes suspicious about us."

The next day Astrid began her job as the bookkeeper for Iceberg. Her first task was to reorganize all papers and all books located in the office library at Dock 1. It took her several weeks to develop an organizing system for the room and have everything in some sort of proper placement. The next task was to repeat the same method within Iceberg's own home. During this process Astrid was sure to keep her eye out for these blueprints that Spandam has his heart set out to find. A month had passed and there were no signs of the mysterious blueprints. Continuously she would confront Kalifa and briefly chat in private about their current lack of luck with the blueprints.

One evening while Astrid was coming off from her shift she was approached by Kaku and Lucci. The two of them unexpectedly invited her out to the bar. Little did she know that they were all gathering to report anything that they had in the basement of the bar. It took several months, but once again all members of CP9 were together.


	10. Believing

A year had finally passed as Astrid had begun to be more comfortable with her role of the mission. However, nobody was satisfied. Everyone had begun to believe that failure is near at hand. On a warm summer afternoon, Astrid was out in the main yard with a journal in hand. She approached Paulie, Kaku, and Lucci who had just started eating their lunch.

"Afternoon Astrid, good to see you wearing some decent clothes for once," Paulie said waving his sandwich in the air.

"Thanks Paulie, it's laundry day," Astrid snapped back.

"What's going on Astrid?"

"I'd like to know more about the incident that happened yesterday,"

"Co, coo, you don't mean that pirate?" replied Hattori.

The day before a pirate with devil fruit powers had destroyed a part of the courtyard demanding a ship. He easily took down some of the men, but with great agility Kaku, Lucci, and Paulie were able to take him down without breaking a sweat.

"Devil Fruit users are ones who fascinate me, and besides I need to document the incident for the log book," said Astrid as she sat down on a crate next to Lucci. "In my travels, I have come into contact with five Devil Fruit users. Each of them with a power just as unique as the next."

"What kind of powers are you talking about?" asked Paulie.

With a quick glare from Lucci Astrid replied, "Oh enough about that, I'll tell you another day. What's more important is that I need to know about this pirate."

"Alright he, had some sort of animal Devil Fruit that allowed him to turn into some reptile," Paulie replied, "Let me ask you guys this, would you ever eat one of those? Just think of the power you can have with that."

"Co, coo I'd be careful." Hattori replied.

"Yeah, I don't think I'd ever want to eat one. They say that you never know what type of power you may get." Kaku stated taking a bite of his apple.

"He's right. I've also heard that a user cannot swim either. You may have been the best swimmer around before you ate it but afterwards…They say that the sea gods hate the devil and anyone wielding his power gets dragged down to the bottom of the sea, I don't think I could eat one either," Astrid said looking up at the sky.

"Astrid!" Iceberg yelled from across the courtyard. He ran over to the group waving his hand hysterically.

"What's he up to now?" Kaku asked.

"Astrid, I'm glad I found you. I wanted to thank you for all of your hard work. All of the books are well kept. I couldn't have asked anyone to do a better job." He said with a smile on his face.

"Well sir, you could have let Kalifa do it for you," Kaku stated.

"No, she insisted that she had too much to deal with that she needed someone else to do it for her. I'd like to show my gratitude by welcoming you to my home for dinner."

Astrid's heart dropped, for without even realizing it, she was closer to completing the mission than ever. Here was he chance to get inside Iceberg's head in a matter no one else could and find the blueprints.

She looked over at Kaku and Lucci. Lucci's face had a smug smile to it while Kaku was trying to hold back his. Paulie, however, had the look of utter disbelief at what he was hearing. With a deep breath Astrid accepted his offer. That evening, Kaku and Lucci had prepared for what Astrid was about to do. This was essential to their mission, so they were able to do the best that they could to help Astrid succeed.

"There, done!" Kaku said in excitement.

As he stepped back to allow Lucci to see. He showed off Astrid in a tight black dress with her long blonde hair pulled back into a classy up do. The make-up was Lucci's idea which had glamorously shown Astrid's best features of her face.

"This is going to be very important Astrid. If you fail us, you fail the mission," Lucci proclaimed.

"Just relax, and be yourself. I can see that there is something you can go off of. It shouldn't be that bad," Kaku said trying to reassure the very nervous Astrid.

"You guys do realize that I have never, in all of my field work, have done something like this. It's always crash down the door and knock the guy out," she cried.

"Well, we know one thing that's for sure. Don't do that, and the rest should just roll from there," Kaku said with a chuckle.

Astrid had made her way to Iceberg's home. She knocked on the door as she tried to calm herself. She kept repeating to herself that none of this was real and it was all for the mission. She tried to tell herself to not get worked up into the moment. With a deep breath she tried knocking again. A minute had passed and there was still no sign of anyone. She reached for the handle and the door was unlocked. As she stepped into the house she could smell a delicious meal being prepared.

"Iceberg? Iceberg are you here?" Astrid called out.

There was nothing but silence. Cautiously she made her way through the house in search of him. There still was no sign of him. She quietly made her way up the stairs to continue her search. Steam was making its way down the hallway where Astrid stood. Before her was Iceberg, however not in the way that she had imagined to find him.

"Astrid!" He yelled flailing the towel around trying to make sure he was properly covered. "I didn't expect you to be her so soon!"

"Sir, I'm actually late," she replied trying look away as she could feel her cheeks getting redder and redder the longer they stood there. "I'm just going to wait for you downstairs," she said as she quickly ran down the stair as fast as she could.

Once Iceberg was dressed he met up with Astrid in the dining room. The two were still completely embarrassed by the situation and were finding it hard to make eye contact with one another. A half an hour into dinner they were able to talk to each other normally. Two hours had passed and the two were laughing and talking to each other in a slightly drunken matter from wine, finishing their meals. Another hour had gone before Astrid was prepared to leave.

"Well, we certainly had a good time," Iceberg said leaning in the doorway of the front door.

"Yes, it really was, even after what happened," she replied.

"That's ok, it will make for a funny story for the others," he said with a large smile.

"Yes sir, I'm sure they would all get a kick out of this one."

"Who knows maybe next time we'll have something even better to tell them... there will be a next time right Astrid?"

Shocked Astrid replied, "Well if you really would like…" she paused to quickly reflect on what she was about to do. The more often she has moments like these the closer she will get. "Yes, of course!"

A year had passed as Astrid's relationship with Iceberg continued to grow. However, she continued to not let her heart come before her mind. She kept her mind on the one thing that was important to her. Every time she would go to Iceberg's house she would search for the blueprints. Every time she looked, she came up empty. That was until one day she arrived at his house unexpectedly. She climbed the stairs and could hear him talking to himself from in his office. She quietly listened in as she heard him say the name Cutty Flam. She barged in to find Iceberg sitting at his desk with blueprints in front of him.

"Astrid!" He yelled, "What are you doing here," he continued angrily as he rolled the blue prints up and shoved them in his desk.

"Sorry, I was just coming by to say hi before I went to work. Were those blueprints, because I don't remember filing that?"

"It's nothing now go!"

She immediately left and ran down the stairs. She ran straight to Dock 1 with a petrifying feeling in her chest. Her heart was beating as fast as it could. Seeing those blueprints scared her. She didn't see much, but from she could see she knew that these were the ones CP9 has been looking for, for years. She made it to Dock 1 and without any hesitation and jumped the wall.

"WOAH, Astrid what's the big idea jumping the wall like that. You don't normally do that," A worker yelled.

She quickly ran passed the workers. Remember what she could see from the blueprints. Although Iceberg had quickly rolled it up, from what she could tell was that whatever was on it was big, terrifyingly big.

"Kaku!" She yelled as soon as she caught sight of him.

Running past all of the confused workers, she grabbed his arm and continued to run. With a stumbling Kaku she managed to pull him away from all other employees.

Out of breath, "He has them…..in…..his house…..the blue prints…I saw them…"

"Wait What!" Kaku said trying to lower his voice while frantically making sure that no one was around to hear them.

"He had them on his desk….I saw them briefly….but it was enough. He did say something about Cutty Flam. This Cutty Flam must have some relation as to why Iceberg has these blue prints."

"Nothing rings a bell to me but this is good information," Kaku replied putting his hand on her shoulder.

Later that evening CP9 had met up to discuss Astrid's findings. Within the meeting it was decided that in case there was failure in obtaining the blue prints, only one person should go after them. Considering Astrid had found them, it was decided that she would be the one to retrieve them. The entire mission was not set upon her shoulders.

Astrid has set out later that night to Iceberg's home. She made sure to dress all in black and covered half of her face. Hiding within the shadows, she jumped the fence and made her way to the study window. Quickly and quietly she ran up the wall and to the window. The window was locked. With a small tool she was able to shove it into a crack of the window sill and force the lock to open. Before she stepped into the window, she remembered words Lucci had told her before she left. "Kill him at all costs, make it seem like it was an accident. Afterwards we will play it off like it was and one by one leave Water 7". She made her way into the study and began to search through the entire bookshelf.

"There is no way it could be in here, I've already searched through this room from bottom to top already," she paused, "It never stays in one room."

Quietly she opened the door and walked down the hallway. Tiptoeing, making sure a sound was not made. She made her way down the hall to Iceberg's room. Inside was him sleeping in his bed. As she approached she couldn't help to be hurt. Memories of their times spent together flooded her mind. She actually enjoyed those times and had let her heart get the best of her. Her mission was compromised, she could not kill this man and yet there she was standing just inches away from him with a knife in hand. She placed her hand on his chest. As her hand was resting there, she couldn't help but notice an abnormality within the wrinkles of his pajama shirt. Slowly, she slid her hand to the buttons and slowly began to unbutton the shirt. Inside was a pocket, and within the pocket was a blue sheet of paper. Just as she suspected the blue prints have been on him the entire time. She slowly removed the prints from the pocket and buttoned the shirt up again. She picked up the knife and hesitated. She went to slice his throat, but couldn't. She tried to go for his stomach, but stopped. She thought maybe if she closed her eyes and struck a blow it would help, but it felt like there was a force preventing her from harming him each time. The longer she stood there trying to kill him, the more emotional she became. She continued to reminisce on the laughs, the smiles, the embarrassments. She could not kill a man she had cared so deeply for. She dropped the knife and in that moment it made a loud sound on the ground, waking him up.

"Wha…..what's going on, who are you," he cried. He looked at her hands and saw the prints, he reached for his pocket and immediately glared at her. "Whoever you are, you don't understand what you are holding. You need to give those back!"

Panicking and overcome with emotion Astrid made a run for it. She ran for the door and continued down the hall. She made her way back into the study and went to jump out of the window. She thought that she had managed to get away in time, but it was too late. A loud bang was heard and all she could feel was intense pain from her shoulder. In that moment of pain she dropped the blue prints and fell out of the window. She hit the ground hard breaking a rib in the process. She took quick glances to see if the blue prints were nearby. When she saw that they were nowhere to be seen, she ran and jumped the fence. She ran straight to the bar and made her way through the back. Dizzy from the loss of blood and from running she collapsed at the feet of Kalifa and Blueno. With Kaku's help, Blueno had placed her on top of a table. They had managed to remove the bullet from her shoulder and stitch the wound. The gun Iceberg had used was no ordinary gun. It was a gun that enabled it to sustain larger and faster bullets. The bullet had managed to lodge itself deep within her shoulder muscles, she was lucky to be able to move her arm at all. The rib was placed back to its spot as Kalifa bandaged her up.

"What happened, did you get the blue prints?" Lucci asked.

"No…." she hesitated, she didn't want to tell them the entire story. She felt that if she told them that her emotions had gotten the best of her then they would report her for treason and eliminate her. "He found me before I could find them. I did find out that he keeps them on him."

"You failed us Astrid," He replied. "Since the beginning I have believe you to be worthless. I'm surprised that you have managed to stay alive this long after the type of missions you've been on."

The next morning while trying to keep the pain of her shoulder to herself, she calmly walked through the main yard. She couldn't help but to feel the workers stares as she walked by them. She found Kaku on some pieces of lumber with his head down.

"Kaku, what's going on?" Astrid asked.

"It's game over for you Astrid, he knows," he replied, "Everyone knows, he told us all that it was you last night. That you had tried to sneak into Iceberg home to kill him and steal his fortune."

"What!" She yelled, quickly realizing others were watching she began to whisper. "How"

"I don't know but he is pretty sure that it was you."

The gates opened as Iceberg and Kalifa began to walk in.

"Iceberg! What is the meaning of all of this! Someone was trying to kill you, are…."

"Save it Astrid, I know it was you," he said putting his hand up. "A man never forgets the smell of the perfume of the woman he loves."

"Perfume?" Astrid thought to herself, she had made sure she wasn't wearing anything, she showered, but a small amount must have been lingering.

"And the eyes, they still shone in the moonlight behind the black cloak."

Marines began to flood Galley-Law. A few marines had grabbed her arms and forced them behind her back. In that moment she realized that the other members weren't watching. Kalifa kept her nose to her papers. Kaku was still sitting on lumber sharpening a tool. Lucci was hammering away at a ship. None of her friends were going to help her in any form. This was it, this was where she knew that she was on her own. In that moment, she realized that the attempts of killing a well-known figure, let alone a mayor, would surely result in a death sentence.

"Yes it was me….and I almost did it. There was one thing stopping me from killing you…..me….I couldn't do it, not after all we had done."

"Why," he asked as a Marine had grabbed shackles.

With her head down, "For what I thought would be a better world, but it turns out that the ones who felt that way turned against me. In my time of need I was worthless to them, but I will prove them wrong. I will show them that I can be better in my own world.

"Good luck trying to do that behind bars," a marine replied as he went to put the shackles on her.

"You're right," she replied elbowing him in the face.

Astrid proceeded to punch the other marines that were trying to restrain her. Quickly she punched or kicked a marine, forcing them down to the ground. She pierced them through the chest using the finger pistol technique. As blood started to get onto her clothes, she quickly removed her jacket and whipped it at marines who were running after her. She proceeded to dodge attacks and respond with strikes of her own. Eventually she made her way to Iceberg.

"I'm sorry I lied, but the feelings were real."

"Sorry doesn't make…" before he could finish Astrid had forced her fist into his stomach.

The force managed to cause him to collapse on the ground. The reaction enabled her to gain enough time to make a run for it. Marines began to chase after her. She ran around corners, down streets, and even up walls to the roof tops. Nightfall hit and she was able to lose sight of them. Completely exhausted she found a spot out of sight which would enable her to rest for a bit. She rested for a few minutes before she heard footsteps. In a blink of an eye she saw a fist. Dodging the attack she responded with her own charge, slamming her opponent into the wall. As she was about to punch their face she realized who it was.

"It's ok, it's just me," Kaku said raising his hands to protect his face.

Relieved, she collapsed in his arms.

"What really happened?" He asked.

Astrid began to tell him the truth. She explained to him how she and Iceberg had become close and how her emotions prevented her from continuing on with the mission.

"Kaku, I was about to kill an innocent man, my friend. I don't think I can do this anymore. I can't sleep at night knowing what the government is doing. I just can't take any of this anymore."

"Leave, the marines are after you and if matters were to get worse, then they'll know that CP9 is exposed. Spandam already knows what's going on and he has ordered a bounty on you head to be placed to protect the rest of us."

"So he isn't mad?" She asked as tear began to roll down her face.

"He isn't just mad, he is completely furious at you. He really wants you dead this time. Lucci isn't too thrilled either. Kalifa doesn't seem to care what happens to you, and Blueno just wants you gone so the situation can die down."

"What about you?"

"I want you to be safe. Leave this place, get out of here, but just make sure you stay safe. Take this," he said handing her a sword in its sheath.

"I can't take this Kaku, it's her prized sword."

"Just take it and protect yourself with it alright. Go!"

Kaku forced the sword into her hands as he made a run for it. Voices could be heard. Around the opposite side of the alley Marines has started to arrive and run for Astrid. She quickly made a run for it. She thought that the only way to get out of the mess that she had brought herself into would be to leave Water 7. She ran up a wall and onto the rooftops with the Marines not far behind. She swiftly made her way to the Water 7 docks. As she landed on the ground, she quickly found her footing and found the closest and smallest boat that she could man on the sea. She quickly threw whatever barrels she could find nearby that contained supplies and set sail. She was a little ways away as Marines began to arrive at the dock. Not long after a large Navy vessel appeared from the side of the shore. Canons began to fly from the belly of the ship towards the tiny ship Astrid was on. On land, Astrid was capable of fighting off anyone, but on sea she was defenseless. Canons hit the little ship piece by piece. Eventually a canon had finally demolished the ship. At this point she was too far from shore to be able to catch the tide back. She fell into the icy cold water and began to sink down below. There wasn't much that she could do. She had stayed under the water for as long as she could hoping that the vessel would leave.

When she no longer was able to hold her breath, she surfaced the water and grabbed the nearest piece of scrap that would support her body. She was cold, tired, and in pain from her wounds. She was too far away from the shore and could not go back even if she wanted to. All she could do was drift away on this little piece of what ship she had left.


End file.
